The historic Kukke Sri Subrahmanya Kshetra is a holy pilgrim centre of Hindus. Two holy rivers Kumaradhara and Darpana theertha flow here. Devotees from every corner of the nation visit this pilgrim centre every year to offer various poojas to have their wishes fulfilled, least bothering about the cost factor.
Prominently, the Sarpa Sanskara, Ashlesha Bali and Nagapratishta Seves are performed here on a large scale. Devotees visit this kshetra to ward off Sarpa Dosha, infertility problems, leprosy and other skin ailments, by traveling for days together.
The number of devotees thronging this pilgrim centre is very high during holidays. To cope with the increasing demand, the temple management has constructed several Chatras in Subrahmanya. Two new loges have also been constructed on behalf of the temple recently. Apart from the temple managed lodges there are around 25 private lodges in Subrahmanya to cater to the accommodation needs of the devotees.
But the tragedy is that excluding some of the private lodges, most are engaged in fleecing the devotees. The room charges fixed by these private lodges depend on the number of devotees visiting the Kshetra that day.
In case the devotee strength is high on a particular day, then even the room charges would be high. Sometimes, it is also common to see boards saying “ No rooms’ outside these lodges just to facilitate creation of artificial shortage of accommodation facilities, in turn creating more demand. How far is it proper for such acts in a pilgrim centre ? As per rules, the room tariffs have to be displayed in the enquiry counter of the lodges. The are a few lodges which have adhered to this rule.
Concerning is the fact that in the recent past, several unauthorized lodges that fail to provide basic amenities to the devotees, have come up here. These lodges are located close by the welcome arch of the temple near the Kumaradhara River. Most of these lodges are on the first floor of a house and have cement sheet roofing.
In case all the authorized lodges from Car street upto the Biladwara in Subrahmanya are occupied, then its is natural for the devotees to go in for these unauthorized lodges. But what is happening here is something opposite. These unauthorized lodges have nearly ten to 20 middlemen or brokers. They after making devotees believe that no rooms are vacant, force them to stay in these unauthorized lodges. The room charges levied by these unauthorized lodges is no less than those charged by the authorized lodges. Isn’t it an irony that all rooms of these unauthorized lodges are occupied, when there are many authorized lodges having vacant rooms ? It is nothing but a surprise that the temple authorities are unaware of this fact.
Then one cannot just forget about the traffic problem in Subrahmanya. It has become a tedious task for the devotees to park their vehicles here. Though the temple has already earmarked a vacant land for the purpose, it has still not been developed making the traffic problem persist.
The step taken by the temple administration to level a nearby hill to facilitate the conduct of Vishwa Jyothishya Sammelan some time back, has led to the dumping of heaps of mud on either side of the highway leading to Subrahmanya Kshetra. If no proper measures are taken to dispose this mud, then it is all likely to create problems during monsoons, adding to the traffic problem. Will the temple administration take steps to prevent the problems created by unauthorized lodges in Subrahmanya and also initiate measures to end the traffic and parking problems at the earliest ?
M Balakrishna Bhat
Kukke Subrahmanya
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