Will resolve Kukke temple issue amicably: Seer

Mangaluru: Sri Vishvesha Theertha of Pejawar Adhokshaja Mutt who was at Kukke on Friday to mediate between the management of the temple and the mutt over conducting Sarpa Samskara and Ashlesha Bali rituals said that he will resolve the issue soon in an amicable manner.
The mutt and temple management have been at loggerheads over who should perform the two rituals.
Nithyananda Mundodi, president of the Kukke Subrahmanya temple committee, told TOI that the seer heard both sides. “We as members of temple management have urged the seer not to allow the mutt to conduct the popular ritual of Sarpa Samskara and Ashlesha Bali, which draws devotees by the dozen to this place dedicated to the serpent lord,” he said.
Sources said that the seer also had a closed-door meeting with Sri Vidyaprasanna Teertha Swami, seer of Subrahmanya Mutt, and others. “The seer cannot touch upon certain issues as there are court cases going on against the same,” said the source.
The senior seer of Pejawar mutt has taken the initiative to resolve the impasse as it is affecting the image of the temple and mutt.
What is the controversy?
The temple’s main source of revenue is its signature rituals — Ashlesha Bali, Sarpa Samskara and Naga Prathisthapana. As lakhs of devotees throng the pilgrimage centre to perform the rituals through the year, pujas are now being separately done inside the temple and in the mutt.
These sevas bring half of the annual income to the temple, which is the under muzrai department.The temple management has been objecting to mutt priests conducting these two sevas at the mutt premises. While the rituals conducted in the temple cost up to Rs 3,200, over Rs 5,000 is charged by the mutt.
The temple recently put up put boards in its premises that it has the right to do the two sevas to which the mutt took objection. Sri Vidyaprasanna Teertha Swami, the seer of Subrahmanya Mutt, has been alleging that the muzrai department is interfering in the daily functioning of the mutt.