Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Jun 9: It has been about three weeks since administrative officer of Kateel Goddess Durgaparameshwari temple, Prabhulinga Kavalikatti, resigned. It is said that Kavalikatti, who also discharges duties as the assistant commissioner of the city subdivision, is frustrated over political upmanships in the temple administration, and also at being admonished by the local member of parliament (MP). The temple, one of the famous pilgrimage centres of the district, is badly in need of the services of an administrative officer.

Kavalikatti had tendered his resignation on May 15 this year. As the district deputy commissioner was on a training assignment abroad, his resignation is kept pending. Reportedly, the administrative officer was flustered at the dispute over delivering two sets of ‘Horekanike’ to Shibarur temple, and the consequent rebuke he received from MP, Nalin Kukmar Kateel, on this issue.

From Kateel temple, a ‘Horekanike’ procession had been taken to the Brahmakumbhabhisheka programme organized at Shibarur Kodamanittaya Daivsasthana in May. This procession had been accompanied by a few priests of the temple and the administrative officer. In the meantime, some villagers led by Kateel Lakshminarayan Asranna, another priest, had taken a separate ‘Horekanike’ procession to Shibarur, on behalf of the temple. The devotees had become unhappy over this development, and sources said that the MP took the administrative officer to task severely, holding him responsible for this inauspicious development. Kavalikatti had tendered his resignation immediately thereafter.

Kavalikatti however, did not agree to the suggestion that the above incidents had forced him to take a decision to resign. He said that the work pressure at his office is tremendous and that he was finding it impossible to additionally discharge duties as the temple administrative officer. As the district deputy commissioner, Ponnuraj, has reported back for duties on Tuesday June 8, it is expected that a suitable decision will emerge on this issue within a few days.