Basava Jayanti celebrated with floral tributes, grand procession, bike rally in Ballari

Basava Jayanti celebrated in Ballari with bike rally, floral tributes, cultural procession, and groundbreaking ceremony for new statue.

Basava Jayanti was celebrated with great fervour in Ballari on Wednesday, marked by a series of events, including a bike rally in the morning, floral tributes to the 12th-century social reformer and a vibrant cultural procession in the evening.

The celebrations were organised under the joint auspices of the district administration, the Zilla Panchayat, the Department of Kannada and Culture and the Ballari City Municipal Corporation.

The formal celebrations began with dignitaries offering floral tributes to Basaveshwara’s statue near H.R. Gaviappa Circle in the city.

Deputy Commissioner Prashanth Kumar Mishra led the homage, garlanding the statue and honouring the philosopher-statesman.

He urged the public to embrace Basaveshwara’s timeless ideals of equality, humanism and social reform and extended his greetings on the occasion of his jayanti.

Earlier in the day, a bike rally was held across major roads in the city, led by Ballari Rural MLA B. Nagendra and Ballari City MLA Nara Bharath Reddy. Participants paid floral respects at the statue of Basaveshwara following the ride.

Prior to the rally, a Bhoomi Puja (groundbreaking ceremony) was performed at Basaveshwara Circle for the construction of a grand new statue of Basaveshwara, estimated at a cost of ₹1.5 crore.