The Hasanamba darshan ticket controversy in Hassan intensified after district minister KM Shivalingegowda bought 500 special darshan tickets worth Rs 5 lakh for Congress party office-bearers associated with organising the Sri Hasanamba and Sri Siddeshwara Swamy Jatra Mahotsava.
Shivalingegowda personally visited the ticket counter near the temple and paid for the tickets through a cheque. He later handed them to District Congress president GB Shashidhar for distribution among party office-bearers, according to a report by Times of India – Mysuru.
Each special darshan ticket costs Rs 1,000. The minister said there was considerable demand for the passes but argued that printing more special tickets could inconvenience ordinary devotees waiting in the general darshan queue.
The purchase comes amid scrutiny over the allocation of privileged access during the festival. Shivalingegowda denied that the ticket purchase had a political motive, saying the tickets were intended for Congress office-bearers who had worked for the successful organisation of the annual event.
The district administration has printed 20,000 golden passes for ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other dignitaries, the minister said. Holders of these passes are being allowed to attend darshan between 8 am and 10 am.
The reported arrangement creates separate access categories at a major public religious gathering: special darshan tickets available for purchase, golden passes issued to elected representatives and other dignitaries, and the general darshan queue used by ordinary devotees. The available report does not specify the total number of devotees expected, the capacity of the general queue or the criteria used to determine the number of golden passes issued.
The issue therefore centres not only on the minister’s purchase but also on how access is administered during a high-demand public event. The district administration’s role in issuing the golden passes and managing separate darshan windows places the focus on the transparency and capacity of the festival’s crowd-management system.
Shivalingegowda’s stated position is that expanding the special-ticket allocation could inconvenience devotees in the general queue. The administration’s reported schedule for golden-pass holders remains the 8 am to 10 am window, while the tickets purchased by the minister are to be distributed among Congress office-bearers through the district Congress president.
No further details were provided in the report about whether additional passes will be printed, whether the golden-pass quota will be revised or how the administration plans to respond to the ongoing demand for special darshan access.
