Bengaluru temples face income decline as devotees opt to travel to shrines across state using Shakti scheme benefits

BENGALURU: Aided by the govt's ambitious Shakti scheme (free bus travel), Muzrai temples across Karnataka saw a considerable increase in their annual income over the past two years. However, their gain has turned out to be the loss of prominent Muzrai temples across Bengaluru, with more than 75% of them reporting a sharp decline in their annual income during 2024 because of a drop in footfall.

Bengaluru, as per Karnataka Hindu religious institutions and charitable endowments (Muzrai) department records, has 21 prominent temples belonging to the department and categorised as ‘A' and ‘B'. Of these, 16 in different parts of the city reported a substantial slump in annual income. Only five temples — including the city's richest (Banashankari temple) and oldest (Someshwara temple in Ulsoor) ones — reported a marginal increase in annual income.
The audit of annual revenue found that as many as 205 A category temples (with more than Rs 25 lakh revenue per year) collectively contributed Rs 743 crore during 2024, as against Rs 675 crore during 2023. Similarly, the B category ones (annual revenue between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 25 lakh) reported an annual revenue of Rs 34.8 crore in 2024, up from Rs 33.3 crore in 2023. However, in contrast to the overall performance, the prominent temples across Bengaluru suffered a drop in their annual income, leaving revenue officials puzzled.
The annual income of Sri Prasanna Venkateshwara Swamy temple, Fort, fell from Rs 54.1 lakh to Rs 36.7 lakh. The famous Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple's revenue dropped from Rs 92 lakh to Rs 84.9 lakh, followed by Banaswadi's Anjaneya Swami temple (from Rs 89 lakh to Rs 69.7 lakh). The revenue of Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Malleswaram also fell from Rs 59 lakh to Rs 48.3 lakh, while that of the recently renovated Vasantha Vallabharaya Swamy temple in Vasanthapura dropped from Rs 67.9 lakh to Rs 65.6 lakh. Interestingly, all these temples had reported a considerable surge in income in 2023 compared to previous years.
Acknowledging the numbers, Muzrai minister Ramalinga Reddy told TOI he was also surprised by the trend. "Normally, temples across Karnataka report a gradual increase in their annual revenue over the years. But the trend of Bengaluru temples is strange, and we'll have to verify the details with temple executive officers. I'll discuss this during the next review meeting of the department and assess what could have possibly contributed to this factor. But in my opinion, this could largely be because of devotees travelling to other major temples. Overall, temples across Karnataka have seen a surge in income," he pointed out.
Elaborating, the minister said, "Until the launch of Shakti scheme, many devotees who were unable to visit these famous shrines because of financial constraints chose to visit their neighbourhood temples and offered prayers. But with the successful operation of the scheme, they have been empowered to visit any temples free of cost and visit the top temples such as Kukke Subramanya, Kateel temple, Renukadevi temple, and many others. Besides, people are also leaving Bengaluru during long weekends and holidays, resulting in decreased footfall in temples within the city."
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