Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, May 9: State Chief Minister (CM), B S Yeddyurappa, had visited Sri Devanathaswami Lakshmi Hayagreeva temple near Aralumigu in Kadalur, Tamil Nadu, on Thursday May 6. He had performed the ‘Shatru Samhara’ oblation aimed at immobilizing the enemies. This oblation, which is popular among the politicians, was performed to help the state government to come out of the sticky situation it is in because of the minister Halappa’s alleged involvement in a rape case.

It is learnt that the CM, immediately on his return to the city from the above temple on Friday, wrote to the finance department, asking it to release one crore rupees to the temple above-named, for its development. This instruction has come at a time when hundreds of temples in the state are in a neglected state, and their priests get a pittance to run the show, and when the state does not have enough funds for drinking water projects and other urgent necessities.

Out of the 24,000 temples under the muzrai department, nearly half do not have priests. As the priests are unable to maintain the temples properly out of the meagre amount they get from the government, no priest is coming forward to serve the temples that are not frequented by many devotees, it is learnt. The pertinent question here is, whether Karnataka has to donate to a temple in Tamil Nadu, as the temples there are expected to be looked after by that state government. The priests of the temples under muzrai department are angry that the CM has chosen to honour the request of a temple in another state within a day, by neglecting their own pleas for renovation of the dilapidated temples, improvement of facilities etc., that have been pending with the muzrai department since the last several years.