MYSURU: A few months ago, Hucchagani village in Nanjangud taluk had caught statewide attention for being a Covid-free village. But, over the last ten days, this remote village, about 35-km away from Mysuru city, is in the news again for ‘temple politics’ after a temple in the village was demolished.
In the wee hours of September 8, the taluk administration, with help of the police, brought earthmovers and demolished the Sri Adishakti Mahadevamma temple in the village. The officials were acting on a letter from Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, dated July 1, 2021, to district deputy commissioners directing them to demolish illegal religious structures in every taluk and send a monthly compliance report. This was based on a Supreme Court order on demolishing places of worship which had illegally come up on government land.
But after a video of the temple demolition was uploaded by Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha and several other pro-Hindu outfits on social media, the issue snowballed into a political controversy, becoming a major embarrassment for the BJP government. It soon became the topic of ‘temple politics’ with Opposition leader Siddaramaiah condemning the incident and blaming the BJP.
The temple was among 15 religious structures which were identified in Nanjangud as encroaching on public property. The villagers had an “emotional connect” with the temple as it was built with public donations. While the villagers and officials are not sure when exactly the temple was built, they recall that Sadhguru Mahadeva Thata of Sangam Kshetra had offered prayers to the presiding deity and, a few decades ago, utilising the public donations, they gave the temple a structure and built a gopura.
But, several pro-Hindu outfits claimed that it was more than a century-old temple. Pratap Simha, several villagers and pro-Hindu groups allege major lapses and say that due procedures were not followed and people were not taken into confidence. “The officials came like thieves overnight and demolished the temple,” said Simha. Simha on Friday claimed that there are documents which show that the temple is at least 250 years old.
But officials, including the Nanjangud tahsildar claim that all due processes were followed. While a few youngsters from the village claim that the villagers were informed about the demolition in the past, they said the officers might have razed it in the wee hours fearing opposition.
BJP MLA Harshavardhan himself agreed that the officials had told him under what circumstances they had taken the action. “Nearly 15 temples were identified in my constituency of which 13 were saved. Similar demolition drives took place in the neighbouring taluks, but only this temple got highlighted,” he said. The government has sought an explanation from the Mysuru DC and Nanjangud tahsildar.