Mysuru, Aug. 28 -- Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, senior-most member of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, has firmly asserted that the Sri Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hill is a Hindu shrine, saying, "If it were not a Hindu temple, it would never have been brought under the Muzrai (Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments) department in the first place."The statement comes amid controversy surrounding the selection of Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate this year's Nada Habba (Janata Dasara), the state-organised public celebration of the Mysuru Dasara festival, which sparked debates linking politics with religion.
Pramoda Devi described the controversy as avoidable and criticised insensitive comments suggesting that...