As Mysuru prepares for the annual Dasara festival, which marks the victory of good over evil, some people keen to erase the portrayal of King Mahisha as “an evil demon” celebrated what they called ‘Mahisha Habba’ in the city on Monday.
The group, which gathered at Town Hall, garlanded B.R. Ambedkar’s statue and took out a rally comprising motorcycles, a tableau and folk troupes through the thoroughfares of the city before proceeding to the statue of Mahisha atop Chamundi Hills.
Though legend has it that Mysuru got its name from Mahishasura, who according to mythology was a demon slayed by the goddess Chamundeshwari, B.P. Mahesh Chandra Guru, professor of journalism, described him as “an indigenous ruler chosen by King Ashoka”.
“Vested interests who felt a threat to the upper caste-dominated Hinduism from Buddhism created stories to vilify Mahisha and portrayed him as a demon,” Prof. Guru said. “We are also celebrating Mahisha Habba to cherish the legacy of a great ruler who stood for humanism.”
He recalled that the former Minister V. Srinivas Prasad had organised a Mahisha Habba in the late 1980s and mobilised a large number of people. Though the practice was discontinued after two or three years, the Dalit Welfare Trust in Mysuru along with the Gangothri Research Students’ Federation and a few progressive organisations have come together to revive it in the past four years, the professor said.
Writers K.S. Bhagawan, Bannur Raju, and social worker Shabbir Mustafa were among those present on the occasion.
