Karnataka Budget 2023: With elections round the corner, CM Bommai’s outlay keeps temples happy

The temple at Ramadevara Betta, first proposed by Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, has political significance as its construction is part of the BJPs overall strategy to make inroads into the old Mysuru region via Ramanagar.

Ashwath Narayan had written to Bommai and Religious Endowments Minister Shashikala Jolle to construct a temple at the site, and had even invited Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to visit the site.

Ramadevara Betta and its surroundings are well-known because they served as the shooting location for the mega-hit Hindi film Sholay. Environmentalists have flagged the construction of a temple there saying that the proposed site was part of a vulture sanctuary.

Another pet project of the chief minister, the Anjaneya Temple at Anjanadri Hill in Koppal district, received Rs 100 crore “to provide basic facilities to tourists”. The temple gained significance after claims that Lord Hanuman was born atop the hill. In August last year, Bommai performed prayers at the temple and stressed that Anjanadri Hill was the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. “I can say this a thousand times,” he had said.

With an aim to commence a Tourist Circuit of Heritage Sites of the state, “a grant will be provided for the comprehensive development of the complexes of Sannati Chandralamba Temple and Ganagapura Dattatreya Temple in the district of Kalaburagi and Madhukeshwara Temple of Banawasi”, according to the Budget. The 12th-century historical Nagareshwara temple with 101 pillars constructed in Bankapura of Haveri district will be developed as a tourist spot.

Bommai has also hiked the annuity payable to Inam Lands of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department from Rs 48,000 to Rs 60,000. As many as 3,721 institutions will benefit from this.