Karnataka govt sanctions Rs 15 crore to protect, document 38,000 acres of land under 328 temples

The proposal also includes an initiative to document the land records and properties of the temples since land has been donated in the name of the temple by private individuals/devotees in some cases and there is no consolidated information on these properties with local District Collectors or the Religious Endowments Commissioner.

“Information about this will be provided by creating a ‘Devabhoomi’ link on the official website of the Religious Endowments Department and the original documents of each property, survey revenue documents, land grant documents, lease documents, and measured maps will be published,” the Cabinet was informed on Thursday. “It is intended to carry out all the above works in a phased manner,” the state revenue department said in its proposal.

State Law Minister H K Patil said the Cabinet decided to grant administrative approval for the scheme to protect the encroached properties of 328 temples in the state, remove encroachments and document the properties. “The grant of Rs 15 crore for the year 2025-26 will be released to the Commissioner and the Department of Religious Endowments in one go,” he added.

The government also decided to allot Rs 16 crore for building a new guest house at Kollur Mookambika Temple in coastal Karnataka’s Udupi region. “The 26-room Souparnika Guest House building at the temple was built in 1984-85 for the accommodation of devotees who come for darshan… There are many repair works in the old building, and since it was in a dilapidated state, it has not been used by devotees for six years,” the Cabinet was informed. A new guest house could bring in more devotees to the temple, boosting its income.