MYSURU: A missing gold ornament of the presiding deity at Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Chamarajanagar district had the temple administration, the priests and the police in a tizzy. But as luck would have it, a civic worker found it amidst garbage late on Thursday afternoon and promptly alerted the temple authorities, much to their relief.
Much drama preceded the discovery of the 30-gram gold ornament in the garbage pile. The Karadige (a box-like ornament in which a Shiva Linga is placed) of Lord Mahadeshwara was found to be missing after the idol was taken in a procession out of the temple on March 18. A frantic search by the priests, the temple authorities and devotees yielded nothing.
The temple administration then served a show-cause notice to the three priests who were posted on rotation in March, as they had signed a document and taken custody of the ornament which adorns the idol. A complaint was also lodged at the MM Hills police station on March 23, suspecting that it may have been stolen or had gone missing.
When the priests could not find the ornament after days of search, they even agreed to pay from their pockets and get a new Karadige made with the permission of the temple authorities. The incident had also come in for severe criticism from the locals and devotees.Around 3.45 pm on Thursday, Sunil Kumar, a contract pourakarmika found the Karadige when he was loading garbage on to a vehicle. He quickly alerted the temple officers who rushed there along with the police and found the ornament in the pile of garbage.
Male Mahadeshwara Hills Development Authority CEO Jayavibhava Swamy, Police Inspector G S Ramesh and Deputy Secretary Basavaraj visited the spot. The M M police said they will hand over the Karadige to the temple authorities after completing legal formalities.Sunil’s prompt action not only helped resolve the case, but also saved the three priests from further trouble. The police and temple officers have appreciated Sunil’s honesty which helped resolve the issue.