Restrictions on Urs Rituals at Bababudangiri Shrine Spark Protest and Boycott

A three-day urs event honoring Hazrad Daya Hayat Mir Qualandar began at the Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy dargah atop Bababudangiri Hills in Chikkamagaluru. The district administration restricted traditional rituals, including placing a green cloth and applying sandalwood paste, leading hereditary administrator Syed Ghouse Mohiyuddin Shakhadri to boycott the event. Activists from Eddelu Karnataka protested these restrictions, alleging the state government undermined the shrine's syncretic traditions, but were taken into preventive custody by police.