Udupi: A signature campaign has been launched in Udupi to pressurise the government to denotify Janardhan and Mahakali temples of Ambalpady from the list of Muzrai temples.
The petition for denotificaton have been filed for three other temples in Udupi-Viz Ananthashayana temple Karkala, Mahalingeshwara Temple, Surala and Vishnumurthy temple, Majoor.
With this, the Rajya Dharmika Parishat, which functions under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department, has invited objections/suggestions from the public regarding the petitions. The Parishat’s notification seeking public opinion was issued by the deputy commissioner’s office on January 18 and the last date for receiving petitions from the public is February 28.
Those who are carrying out the signature campaign want the government to retain the Janardhana temple, which is popularly known as the Ambalpady temple, as a public property. The revenue of this nearly 700-year-old muzrai temple is around Rs 6 crore a year. This is the second richest temple in terms of revenue after the Mookambika temple of Kollur in the district, say sources.
While the City Civil Judge, in April 2014 had stated that Ambalpady temple is a public temple, the hereditary trustees of the temple moved court seeking custody of the temple. With the court upholding the government’s decision, they moved the High Court, where the case is pending.
The hereditary trustees have moved the Parishat’s tribunal seeking custody of the temple and accordingly a signature campaign has been started.
