The governing committee of the 12th-century Chennakeshava temple of Belur in the Hassan district of Karnataka issued an eviction notice to a Muslim vendor running a shop on the shrine premises. According to a report by the Times of India, the vendor is running this shop for the last few decades.
On 28th March 2022, the temple executive officer Vidyalatha served the notice to a Muslim vendor selling children’s toys. The shopkeeper was asked to stop the business activities with immediate effect. The vendor replied to this notice on the same day. In his reply, the vendor sought permission to continue his business till next year when the agreement with temple authorities ends.
The temple executive Vidyalatha said, “The notice is issued under the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 2002, which disallows leasing or renting premises in a temple complex to non-Hindus. I have sent our vendor’s reply to our Commissioner.”
There are 17 shops in the Chennakeshava temple complex. Among these shops, there is a hotel, a milk booth, godowns, and a few other shops. The temple comes under the Karnataka Muzrai Department and it is set to be recognized as a world heritage site by UNESCO. The annual chariot procession of this temple is scheduled on the upcoming 13th and 14th of April 2022.
This move comes amid several temples in Karnataka deciding to not allow non-Hindus in their premises. Two weeks ago the Marikamba temple of Shivamogga had banned Muslim vendors at the annual fair. A similar decision that was taken by the Hosa Marigudi temple in Kaup, as the temple committee had decided to allow only stalls by Hindus during the annual event ‘Suggi Mari Pooja’. This was done after several Muslim traders had shut down their shops to protest against the Karnataka High Court’s decision on the hijab issue.
Reacting to the development, the Karnataka govt had clarified that the temple committees were right as according to the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act 2002, non-Hindus cannot do business in and around the premises of the Hindu religious institutions. When Congress had demanded action against Hindu temples for not allowing non-Hindus to do business in their temple premises, the Karnataka govt had said that govt can’t interfere in the decisions of temple committees as it was as per law. Law minister J C Madhuswamy had also informed that the law was enacted by a Congress government.
