Kukke Subramanya temple, Karnataka latestly.com |
Kukke Subramanya temple, KA findmessages.com |
Kukke Subramanya temple is located in the village of Subramanya in Sullia Taluq, Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka. It is on the picturesque slope of a dense wooded area of the Western Ghats range, overlooking the mountain of Kumara Parvatha and one can see nature's abundance and beauty here with plenty of greenery rivers, nallas, etc. Such a place endowed with nature's bounty is an ideal spot for people who want to be away from the madding crowd and urban mess and seek spiritual exhilaration and tranquility coupled with divine experience. To access the temple devotees have to cross the Kumaradhara river in front of the temple. The place is used to be called Kukkupatna. This place is about 16 kms from Dharamshala and 105 kms from Mangaluru.
God Subramanya with serpents below, in.pinterest.com |
Above image: In the sanctum of Kukke Subramanya temple, KA - God Karthikeya protecting the serpents below him. A rare image of god Subramanya.......
The famous temple is dedicated to god Karthikeya or Subramanya, who is supposedly the lord of all serpents and is said to have protected serpents Vasuki and others from Garuda (eagle) who hunted after them. The god gave them refuge in the caves here to guard them from Garuda. Two important unique features of this temple are its main entrance to the temple from the back side and the installation of silver plated Garuda Kamba (Garuda: eagle; Kamba: pillar) between the sanctum and the entrance . With respect to latter, and the belief here is that this pillar gives protection to the devotees from the poisonous breath of serpent Vasuki, who is believed to resides inside the sanctum or Srikovil. Lots of people visit this temple year around to get rid of Sherpa Thosha (as per individual horoscope. Famous for Sherpa Samhara Dhosa, it is one among the 7 mukti shastra established by Parasurama
Garuda pillar, Kukke Subramanya temple, KA pinterest.co.uk/ |
It is quite surprising to know that this temple is the richest one in Karnataka and second richest in south India in terms of annual revenue. It is called the richest Muzrai temple in Dakshin Karnataka in the foothills of the Western Ghats region
In 2022-23, the temple has recorded a revenue of Rs 123,64,49,480 (123. 6 crore) and the revenue is up by Rs 50 crore compared to previous year. The temple’s income had risen by Rs. 9 crore in 2014-15, from Rs. 68 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 77.6 crore.
The temple has about 400 staff of which 322 are permanent to run the administration, etc. The temple owns shops and lodges/ choultrys (chatra) for travelers and pilgrims. The sources of revenue are as follows: from land- Rs 1.36 crore, building/ shops - Rs 1.20 crore, Kaanike/ offerings or donations Rs 6.25 crore, interest on deposit - Rs 16.16 crore, sevas- Rs 53.89 crore, accommodation - Rs 4.73 crore and hundi collection-Rs 29.12 crore.
Kukke Subramanya temple's income saw upward mobility after the visit of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in May 2006. Here he performed many rituals. Then in 2005-2006 the income was just Rs. 15.7 crore. Soon many celebrity devotees began visiting this temple and these include cricketers Ravi Shastri, Venkatesh Prasad, Javagal Srinath, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, Juhi Chawla, members of the Raj Kapoor family, industrialist Vijay Mallya, former PM of Karnataka H.D. Kumaraswamy, and others. Obviously, their visit to this hill temple had a positive impact on its revenue by way of hundi collection, donations, etc. Performance of various sevas such as Naga Sherpa Dosha, etc., has generated lots of income for the temple. with some having a long waiting list.
The temple’s revenue had increased gradually from Rs 19.76 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 24.44 crore in 2007- 2008 and after this period this temple maintains a top position in revenue generation in Karnataka; this being due to steady increase of visitors per day and during festival events. .
https://www.mangaloretoday.com/main/Kukke-temple-income-at-least-Rs-88-crore.html
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