Curbs imposed on temple jathra in Bandipur

The event will be held from November 23 to 25

The Forest Department has imposed restrictions on the annual jathra of Beladakuppe Sri Mahadeshwaraswamy Temple which is in the core area of Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

This year’s event will take place from November 23 to 25. The temple comes under the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Department or the Muzrai Department, which has been told of the dos and don’ts that need to be borne in mind as the temple is located within the tiger reserve.

S. Prabhakaran, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, said adequate staff and security personnel would be deployed to ensure that people did not break the law, and KSRTC buses would ferry devotees from the outskirts of the forests to the temple in the core region and bring them back.

“The ban on entry of private vehicles, which came into force a few years ago, will continue,” he added.

Meanwhile, temple trustees said they expected nearly one lakh devotees to take part in the rituals associated with the jathra spread over three days. The temple is located in the Hediyala range of Bandipur and a small shrine grew over the years to emerge as a major temple.

The situation had come to such a pass in recent years that the core critical area of the tiger reserve used to resemble the site of a rural mela as temporary kiosks and stalls dealing with eatables, toys etc., stages with colourful lights and loudspeakers used to be installed.

Though most of it has been banned over the years, what is of concern to conservation activists is that the movement of tens of thousands of people inside the core critical area continues and this causes disturbance to the wildlife habitat.

 This year, the local elected representatives had called for a “grand celebration”, much to the chagrin of conservationists.  Giridhar Kulkarni, wildlife conservationist, said it was the responsibility of the Muzrai Department, the district administration and the elected representatives to respect the views of the Forest Department which had repeatedly called for keeping the annual jathra a low-profile event.

“However, the Forest Department becomes helpless owing to political pressure mounted on them under the pretext of religious sentiments. It is high time that the NTCA recommendations to relocate the temple, was implemented,” he added.

Published - November 21, 2024 09:21 pm IST