Siddu against handing over temple to Udupi mutt

Mangalore Today News Network

November 26: Adding voice to the resent on handing over of Krishna Temple to Udupi Mutt Opposition Leader in Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has written a letter to the State Government.

This was disclosed by Siddaramaiah at the 523rd Kanaka Jayanthi celebrations  at Mysore on Thursday. The order amounts to contempt of court as Supreme Court in its judgment way back in 1961 had clearly stated that the temple be handed over to Muzrai Department.

Siddaramaiah said Kanaka Samithis should not restrict themselves to celebrations alone.”If I raise an objection vocally, it will be misconstrued as one with political agenda”, chided Siddaramaiah.

Earlier, the state government has handed over the Udupi Sri Krishna temple to the Ashta Mutts.

The temple was denotified on October 26 from the list of temples notified under the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act 1997.

Earlier, Udupi District incharge minister said that the revision of the list was only rectifying a mistake committed by an officer in 2003. According to the Act, which came into effect in 2003, religious mutts and temples belonged to mutts should not be exempted from the purview of the Endowment Department. Since 2003, the Ashta Mutts had been demanding the government to denotify the temple, he said.

According to a senior officer , the Revenue Department earlier had opposed denotification citing a case pending in Udupi district court. However, the government denotified the temple well before the court could deliver its judgement.

Asked how could the Government issue such a notification when the matter was still in court, Acharya said the Ashta Mutts had approached the court seeking denotification of the temple. “There is nothing wrong if the government fulfils the petitioner’s plea well before the court’s verdict is pronounced”, he said.

The state government has imposed four conditions on maintenance of the temple. The religious programmes should continue as per the tradition followed for many years and the public should continue to enjoy the right to visit the temple. The denotification of the temple is subject to court’s orders, if any, concerned to the temple. Properties belonged to the temple should be safeguarded and the renovation of any structure of the temple should not be taken up without prior permission of the government.

The temple had been owned and maintained the Krishna Mutt established by Madhvacharya 800 years ago. The Muzrai Department had obtained opinion of the Law Department as well.

The Government’s decision to hand over administration of the Sri Krishna temple in Udupi to the Ashta Maths, taking it out of the control of the Muzrai Department, has also drawn flak from leaders of the Kuruba community, who have threatened an agitation and a legal battle against it.

Karnataka Pradesh Kurubara Sangha secretary K.M. Ramachandrappa said that the decision was taken “to placate one community and one religious institution.”

“Three temples in Udupi, including the Sri Krishna temple, came under the Muzrai Department in 2003. Now only the Krishna temple, which earns big revenue through contributions by devotees, has been handed to over the Ashta Maths while the other two continue to be under Government control,” Mr. Ramachandrappa, said, and alleged that the decision was driven by economic interests. DHNS