Reddy wants to please Reddy

Janardhan Reddy wants to celebrate Krishnadevaraya's coronation ceremony in Andhra Pradesh. Some say it's just a way of returning AP chief minister Rajashekara's favours

Janardhan Reddy wants to celebrate Krishnadevaraya's coronation ceremony in Andhra Pradesh. Some say it's just a way of returning AP chief minister Rajashekara's favours

Tourism minister Janardhan Reddy's attempt to start a festival in Andhra Pradesh that commemorates the 500th anniversary of Krishnadevaraya's coronation is creating a furore in Hampi.

Janardhan, who is also in charge of Bellary, visited Hampi recently and hinted at starting a festival in Penugonda, Andhra Pradesh, where descendants of the royal family finally moved.

The state government had planned to celebrate the coronation on 15 January next year.u00a0

Here or there? Janardhan Reddy on his visit to Hampi recently

Sources say, this is just a way for the Reddy brothers to return favours doled out by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajashekara in the past.

"The festival in Penugonda would mean most of celebrations will take place in Andhra Pradesh," said a source who accompanied Reddy to Hampi. "Besides hogging the limelight, the Reddy brothers are trying to honour Rajashekara Reddy who helped them in the past by allotting over 450 acres to lease iron ore in Obalapuram and over 17,000 acres in Cudappah for a steel plant."

Just not done

The plan hasn't gone down well among descendants of the royal family and Save Hampi activists.

"It's the place where our family ruled for years," said Krishnadevaraya, a descendant of the royal family. "We have urged the government to conduct the event here and are hoping it doesn't happen in Andhra Pradesh."

The royal family had recently urged RSS leaders to keep the Reddy brothers away from the coronation festival, fearing they would hog the limelight as they did during the Hampi Utsav.

They are also urging the state government to form an independent committee to plan the festival.

"The festival should be in the larger interest of the common people rather than a selected few. We want an independent body comprising litterateurs, historians, scholars and artists to plan the festival that will celebrate the Vijaynagar Empire's glorious past. We are hopeful the state will conduct it in Hampi," said Maheshwar Hampi, a Save Hampi activist.