Temple that promoted religious harmony vandalised

Apart from Jesus Christ, there are idols of Swami Vivekananda, Basavanna and Sai Baba Sumukha Raj, Jt Secy

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Fearing threats from a group of fringe elements, temple authorities in the city were forced to replace a Jesus idol with that of Lord Adhyantha Prabhu on the temple gopuram.

According to sources, a temple at Thyagaraja Nagar in the city was built in 1968 which had idols of several saints and religious figures besides Hindu gods on its gopuram, entrance tower of the temple. Sumukha Raj, a joint secretary of the temple trust said that the temple was built by his grandfather to promote religious harmony among different faiths.

"It had statues of Swami Vivekananda, Basavanna, Sai Baba apart from Jesus Christ. Nobody ever had a problem with the idols until the recent incident," Raj told News Trail on Monday. However, from the past several months, a few people claiming to be a part of a pro-Hindu organisation, started complaining to the temple authorities to remove the idol of Jesus from the gopuram, he said.

Recently, the temple authorities found that some miscreants had vandalised the Jesus idol. "We were shocked when we saw the idol vandalised. Later thinking that it would invite more trouble, we took out the broken idol and replaced it with an idol of Adhyantha Prabhu which is an amalgam of Lord Ganesha and Lord Hanuman on the gopuram," Raj said.

The outfits had objected to the Jesus idol alleging that the temple authorities have taken money from Churches to include the Jesus idol among Hindu gods, alleged Sumukha Raj. "The group had accused us of helping Christians in religious conversions for financial benefits," he rued.

"The residents who have been living here for more than 50 years know the history of the temple and how it was built. We were commended in the newspapers when the temple was built at that time," another temple trustee added. It is worth noting that the pot had been boiling up for more than three years. In 2020, several posts on social media went viral with the pictures and videoclips of Jesus Christ's idol on the tower of this temple.

"A ganesh temple in thyagaraja nagar bangalore has installed idol of Jesus on its gopuram.... People in Bangalore, need to join hands and get this removed,'' a post on Facebook shared by an anonymous account in 2020, read.

The government must crack down on intolerance, regardless of what the religious proclivity is. It is the responsibility of the State to ensure this type of environment does not continue, felt some residents.