Mysuru, Sept. 22 -- Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Booker Prize winner Bhanu Mustaq, and other dignitaries on Monday inaugurated the Mysuru Dasara 2025 by performing a floral offering to Goddess Chamundeshwari on the silver chariot.

Earlier the invite to author Banu Mushtaq had seen widespread opposition but with the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Coourt permitting it , she was part of the festivties on Monday.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta of the Supreme Court dismissed the petition against the State government's invitation, saying the preamble says we are secular, and this is a state programme, and the state cannot distinguish.

The advocate for the petitioner had contended that Puja inside the temple...