Vandalised Brindavana restored at Anegundi

Koppal: Fifteenth century Madhwa saint Vyasaraja's Brindavana at Nava Brindavana in the ancient city of Anegundi, which was found vandalised on Thursday, was restored by several Madhwa pontiffs along with devotees on Friday.

Udupi Pejwar matha seer Vishvesha Theertha Swamiji, Uttaradi matha seer Sathyathma Theertha, Subhudendra Theertha of Mantralaya Raghavendra Swamy matha and several other pontiffs from various Madhwa mathas led the restoration work.

Thousands of devotees of the Uttaradi Matha arrived at the site to help with the restoration of the vandalised structures. The devotees arrived on Friday morning and worked through the day to restore the damaged  idols. The restoration work was taken up under the guidance of Mumbai based architect Neeraj Kulkarni.

Later, pontiffs performed religious rituals at the restored Brindavana of saint Vyasaraja.

Meanwhile, Koppal Deputy Commissioner Sunil Kumar is planning to write to the government asking it to hand over the management of Nava Brindavana to the district administration. This comes after the administration was sharply criticised for failing to prevent the damage at the site. The site is neither with the Archaeological Survey of India alike other monuments in the world heritage site of Hampi, nor with the state government. Since it is private property under the upkeep of the Uttaradi matha, only a caretaker who has been given the task of maintaining the site visits it regularly.

Five from Andhra arrested

Four days after the shocking  vandalism at 15th century Madhwa saint Sri Vyasaraja's Brindavana at Anegundi, the Koppal police have nabbed five people who allegedly vandalised Brindavana for a 'treasure hunt'. Koppal Superintendent of Police Ms Renuka Sukumaran on Sunday said four police teams used latest technology to nab the five accused-Pollari Murali Mohan Reddy, D Manohar, K Kummati Keshav, B Vijayakumar and T Bala Narasaiah, all natives of Tadapatri and Ananthapur town in Andhra Pradesh. “A hunt is on to nab more culprits,” she said.

The police have also recovered the tools allegedly used to demolish Brindavana and an Innova car. Ms Renuka said that the arrested were habitual offenders in many other 'treasure hunt' cases across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh adding that an investigation is being carried out to trace other cases of vandalism at historic places.