Hassan DC C. Sathyabhama says Karnataka administration ‘will not allow Sidi ritual’

Following the news report in The Hindu on March 21, senior officers of the Social Welfare Department directed the Hassan DC to take measures necessary to stop the ritual.

Hassan Deputy Commissioner C. Sathyabhama has said that the Karnataka administration will not allow the Sidi – hook swinging – ritual at Hariharapura in Holenarasipur on March 22.

Reacting to a news report in The Hindu, on March 21, the DC said that the taluk administration had not permitted the Sidi ritual. “The villagers may have made some preparations, but we have not permitted them. We will not allow the hook-swinging ritual. They can organise prayers and other rituals as part of the festival,” she said.

As part of the ritual, iron hooks are inserted into the flesh of their back. Later they are tied to a long tree trunk, mounted on a wooden pedestal. The people, who participate in the festival, cheer as the trunk with men tied to it is made to rotate 360 degrees.

Residents of Chakenahalli and Hariharapura, and neighbouring villages in Holenarasipur taluk, who celebrate the Udusalamma festival, had made preparations to hold the Sidi ritual on March 22. They had cut a tree and made preparations for the ritual near the temple at Hariharapura.

They had invited guests and relatives from neighbouring villages to witness the event.

Following the news report in The Hindu on March 21, senior officers of the Social Welfare Department directed the Hassan DC to take measures necessary to stop the ritual.

Earlier, a few male members of select Dalit families of Chakenahalli used to perform Sidi. However, educated youths of the community stopped the ritual in 2021.