For years, devotees have been dropping letters in Hundi requesting the temple administration for basic amenities...
but in vain Mysore/Mysuru : The renowned Srikanteshwara Swami Temple in Nanjangud , often called the Temple Town or Dakshina Kashi, generates an annual revenue of more than Rs. 30 crore from devotees’ offerings. Yet, the same devotees are left to sleep on roadsides and in the open area in front of the Temple.
The Temple’s earnings are counted monthly and in July alone, the Hundi collection amounted to Rs. 1,12,92,056. Additionally, 51 grams and 380 milligrams of gold, 1.
8 kg of silver and 40 foreign currency notes were deposited. In 2023, this Temple earned Rs. 30.
73 crore. Despite this wealth, devotees are forced to sleep outside the Temple ‘Prakara,’ which merges with the road, due to lack of basic amenities, including night shelters. The Temple also lacks sufficient washrooms.
Women performing sacred rituals at the Kapila River bathing ghats face the indignity of having no proper facilities for changing clothes. There are also no provisions for clean drinking water or proper sanitation. Families, including women, children and girls, flock to the Temple daily, with numbers doubling every Sunday night for a holy darshan on Monday morning, the ‘Day of Shiva.
’ The crowds swell even further during Shivarathri and Dasara. Despite the substantial revenue generated for the State Government from the Hundi collection, along with gold and silver offerings, t.