Thousands Defy Covid Rules To Attend Karnataka Chariot Festival
NDTV
The chariot festival at Shri Shakuna Ranganatha Swamy Temple was held even after the local administration ordered that the procession not be taken out
Thousands of people, most of them unmasked, took part in a crowded religious gathering in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district despite a ban on mass gatherings to check the Covid spike in the state.
The chariot festival at Shri Shakuna Ranganatha Swamy Temple, visuals of which show hundreds of people with no sign of social distancing at all, was held even after the local administration ordered that the procession not be taken out.
The festival was organised hours after the Karnataka police issued an order, prohibiting all gatherings and political rallies.
An order issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Chikkamagaluru, to the local tehsildar refused permission for the procession and said that a festival can be observed inside the temple premises and not more than 50 people can attend it.
