The expert committee, constituted by the State government to hear all parties on the rituals to be followed at the syncretic shrine atop the Bababudangiri in Chikkamagaluru, has received over 50 representations. Around 100 people, a majority of them from Chikkamagaluru, attended the committee’s public consultation meeting held in Bengaluru last week.
The three-member committee headed by H.N. Nagamohan Das heard representatives of the Dattatreya Dattapeetha Samvardhana Samiti, Anasuya Bhakta Mandali and other organisations. Besides them, a few people supporting Gouse Mohiuddin Shah Khadri, hereditary administrator of the shrine, also made submissions before the panel. The deadline for the public to make submissions before the committee was last week in Chikkamagaluru. A similar process was undertaken in Bengaluru too.
The expert committee was constituted after the Supreme Court directed the government to settle title claims regarding Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah. The committee invited the public, those interested, to make their statements and submit documents.
According to an official with the Endowment Department, copies of the representations made were in possession of the chairman. “The next meeting of the committee is yet to be scheduled. As of now, it has completed the process of receiving pleas, representations and documents from the public. It has not yet decided on visiting the hill station,” the officer added.
The committee is expected to submit its report by November-end.
