Drought woes: temple wells dry up in DK
But the temple priest walks all the way to the river to fetch 15 pots of water every day to perform an ‘Abhishekham’ to its deity.
Mangaluru: An ancient well sits prominently in the grounds of the Kolli Sri Durga Devi Temple, on the banks of the Netravathi. But the temple priest walks all the way to the river to fetch 15 pots of water every day to perform an ‘Abhishekham’ to its deity.
Heavily silted, the well has fallen dry due to the failure of the north east monsoon last year and the delayed monsoon this year, But the good news is the process of de-silting the well has begun, now that it has no more water in it.
The Durga temple is not alone in its plight. Several temples in the coastal region are short of water , which is essential for their 'abhishekams' and various other religious activities. But the government has not only not bothered to preserve the wells of the ancient temples in the state, but also failed at water management.
Seeing the drought in the state , it has issued a circular asking all the big temples in the state to offer ‘Parjanya Japa,’ ‘Abhishekam’, and ‘special pooja’, on June 6 to pray for copious rain.
But besides seeking divine intervention, the government has hardly done anything for better management of the water bodies in temples. “It is good that the government has asked the temples to perform parjanya japa, abhishekam and pooja. But it also needs to help maintain the water bodies in temples,” said hereditary archak of the Kateel Sri Durgaparameshwari Temple, Sri Harinarayana Dasa Asranna. .
“A temple acts as a model for the entire village. If the government helps it go in for rain water harvesting, water saving measures and use of solar energy, could have more takers,” he added.