HJS Congratulates Endowments Minister of Karnataka

Jyeshtha Shuddha Saptami

11000 Government Temples set for Jeernoddhar (Total Renovation) in Karnataka

HJS Bangalore members Shri. Sandeep Joshi, Shri. Aravinda Baliga, and Sanatan Sanstha seeker Shri. Y V Kanagalekar met Shri. Es En Krisshnaiah Setty Honourable Minister for Endowments and Housing, Government Of Karnataka today at his office in State Secretariat, Vikas Soudha, Bangalore. Shri. Sandeep Joshi congratulated Shri. Setty for having taken a positive decision to fulfill the long standing need of the poor devotees which will enable them to visit various important Pilgrimage Centres in Karnataka at a subsidized cost. He also appreciated Shri. Setty’s efforts for proper utilization of temple funds and various welfare measures taken for the benefit of devotees.

Seekers of Sanatan Sanstha explaining about Sanatan Panchang to Shri. Shetty, Endowment Minister

Later Shri. Kanagalekar showed the Sanatan Panchang to the Minister and told about the various steps taken by Sanatan Sanstha to give Dharma Shikshan to the masses – like Dharma Shikshan Falak, Panchang, SanatanNote Books and various Holy Texts etc. Shri. Setty appreciated the activities and requested the members to come in the evening when some of the Senior Officers of the Department were expected. In the evening hvoluntarily showed the Panchang to the Commissioner of Endowments, and other senior officers of the department suggesting them to support the noble cause of Sanatan.

HJS members with Endownment Minister (Right) & Endowment Commissioner

Background:

It may be recollected here that immediately after taking charge Shri. Setty had issued an order instructing all the temples coming under the Endowments Ministry to do archan in the name of the Chief Minister seeking blessings of the Deities for the welfare of the people of Karnataka. But due to stiff opposition from different groups the State Cabinet held a meeting and withdrew the order within a short period.

The Endowment Dept had also handed over the Gokarna Temple to Shri. Ramchandrapur Mutt of Hosanagar which now has been contested by a section of archakas in the High Court.

During the Solar Eclipse last year he gave instructions to the temples to do do special poojas to ward off negative effects.

In August 2008 Shri. Setty had made arrangements to take 5000 Tirupathi laddus, 5000 photos of Lord Venkateswara and Lord Shiva for the Convention of Association Of Kannada Kootas in America (AKKA) for distribution to the devout. He also made presentations to the various American settled Kannadiga groups indicating the need of support for renovation and maintenance of various temples in Karnataka. He was successful to get commitments for large amount of funds for this cause.

On Vaikunta Ekadashi day in December 2008, Shri. Setty had arranged to distribute laddus as prasad at important Shri. Venkateswara Temples in Karnataka He also arranged to distribut thousands of calendars having photos of deities, at his own cost to the devotees visiting the temples in many parts of Karnataka.

He had also arranged to bring the water from Holy Ganges by train for distribution as Holy Theertha and also for Abhishekam of Shiva Linga in prominent Shiva Temples of Karnataka on the day of Maha Shivarathri in February 2009.

In this background Shri. Aravinda Baliga took an interview of the Minister enquring various aspects.

1.Question : Since taking charge you have taken various measures for the benefit of devotees which seemed top be lacking in most of the predecessors. What was the motivating factor behind this?

Shri. Setty: I am basically a Hindu. I am doing this as a spontaneous response to Righteous feelings ( Dharmik Bhavana) of the masses.

2. Question: It is a positive step to start the subsidized scheme for the poor to visit pilgrimage Centres in Karnataka. Do you have any plans to extend it to other parts of India also – especially Kashi/Gaya etc.

Shri. Setty: Presently we have a scheme for pilgrims to Manas Sarovar. Plans are on the anvil to include Kashi shortly. We will have to consider other Piligrimage Centres in due course.

3.Question: We congratulate you for allocating 900 Crores from the temple funds for the renovation of temples. What are the plans for Dutta Peetha? What are the steps taken for speedily vacating the stay in the Supreme Court to enable Hindus also to offer pooja at the Duttha Peetha?

Shri. Setty: There are funds in Duttha Peetha. The improvement will be taken care of suitably. Regarding the stay in Supreme Court it is under direct attention of the Chief Minister and the Home Minister.

4.Question: Presently Tirupathi Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD) Board has taken up activities under Dharma Prachar Parishath and is arranging Kalyanothsav of Lord Venkateshwara on a large scale in various parts of India. It is also supporting Hari Keerthan programmes, Cultural programmes, Spiritual discourses etc. Do you have any such proposal on hand ?

Shri. Setty:. It is for the Temple Boards for taking up such projects. If such activities are taken up by respective Temple Boards, the Government will definitely support it. Presently our main aim is to create basic infrastructure to the temples.

Question: The previous coalition Government of Janata Dal (Secular) and BJP had increased the monthly remuneration of priests, which was extremely meager since last several decades. But the monthly maintenance allocated to various temples, which do not have their own income is still extremely low. Due to this in many of the temples it is difficult to do regular pooja and also for proper upkeep of the temples. This is reducing the sattvikata of the temples. What are the plans to overcome this problem?

Shri. Setty: The priests, Trustees and Devotees are equally responsible for the maintenance of the temples. We are utilizing the funds of devotees for this purpose.We have released Rs 18 Crores for this purpose. We are also releasing Rs40 crores in due course. We have taken up 11000 temples for Jeernoddhar (Total Renovation).