Karnataka: Priests seek govt intervention as powerful mutts eye Hindu temples

Alleged attempt by a few powerful mutts in Karnataka to take over small Hindu temples with an eye on their land is facing stiff resistance from priests and the government.

The Federation of Akhila Karnataka Hindu Temples, Priests, Agamikas and Upadhivanas (FAKHTPAU) has come out firmly against any move to privatise what are known as C category temples.

Federation’s general secretary KSN Dixit told The Federal that the association has raised the matter with the government, and both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Muzrai Minister Ramalinga Reddy in a meeting with members last year have assured them to protect the interests of priests and C category temples.

The issue has come to light amid a parallel campaign launched by outfits allied to BJP to free temples from government control.

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A, B, and C-class temples

To give the movement a communal touch, right-wing groups have accused the government of spending money that Hindus donate to temples on mosques and churches in the state.

According to Dixit, Karnataka has around 1.86 lakh temples. Of this, 34,564 come under the government’s Muzrai department.

These 34,564 temples are classified into three categories, based on their annual income.

Small temples potential cash cows

Category A has 205 temples that earn more than Rs 25 lakh annually; category B has 193 temples with annual earnings of Rs 5-10-lakh; and category C has a whopping 34,166 temples that earn less than Rs 5 lakh every year.

It is these “poor temples” that have attracted the attention of some powerful mutts as well as individuals. These are mostly in rural and semi-urban locations of the state.

The bulk of the 1.86 lakh temples in Karnataka are very small and don’t come under government purview. They are controlled by village people on their own and they are mainly for local deities.

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Mutt eyes temples

An office bearer of the federation told The Federal that an influential seer in Old Mysuru region summoned a minister in Karnataka two years ago and asked her to hand over C category temples to the mutt.

The minister was promised that the mutt would help turn these into revenue earning temples. But the minister expressed her inability to obey the seer, citing pending cases related to temples in various courts.

According to Dixit, the federation has also questioned the retirement age of 60 fixed by the government for the priests.

Opposition by federation

The federation also wants the government to raise the annual remuneration of the priests from Rs 60,000 to Rs 72,000.

More than anything else, the federation wants the government to keep temples and priests under government control and not to hand over any temple to any trust or private body.

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The issue has sparked a dispute between the Karnataka government and the governor.

Government-governor feud

The governor has withheld the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions Charitable Endowment Bill 2024 after it was passed by the Assembly.

The government had wanted to expand social security measures to over 40,000 priests in Muzrai temples and also develop the C category temples using funds from the income of richer temples.

But a Bill to this effect was defeated in the Legislative Council by the combined might of the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular), said Dixit.

Recovering temple land

According to sources in the Muzrai department, in the last 19 months, the government has recovered 11,499 acres of land belonging to temples across Karnataka.

When the Congress government took power in Karnataka in 2023, a total of 3,914 acres of land had completed the process of mutation.

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Minister Reddy said lands belonging to the temples were often in the names of private entities and unauthorised trusts.

Land assets of temples

“I told the revenue department to complete the mutation process in the names of temples,” Reddy told The Federal. “It needs another two years to reclaim the land that belongs to Muzrai temples.”

It is this land attached to the temples that has made some mutts seek control of the C category temples.

“Under no circumstances should the government succumb to religious and political pressure,” said Dixit. “We will oppose private entities viewing temples only from a business perspective. They have no compassion for priests who are dedicated to preserving religion and serving the deity.”

Dixit said federation members in a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in July 2024 had put forth their demand to scrap of the 60-year retirement age while appealing against privatising of C Category temples.

“Both Siddaramaiah and Reddy assured the delegation of the federation of protecting the interest of the priests and C Category temples,” Dixit told The Federal.

‘No privatisation of temples’

On his part, Reddy has assured that there was no question of allowing privatisation of temples in Karnataka.

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“If anyone wants to develop and improve the condition of C category temples, the government will constitute a committee and oversee its work,” he said.

“I promise that under no circumstances we will allow privatisation (of temples),” he said. “Money collected in temples through Hundi will be used to improve the condition of the temples,” he added.