JOIN USThe Gopinath hill near Kuppahalli in the taluk is home to a Lakshminarasimhaswamy temple as well as Venugopalswamy and Guhantara temples.
However, it has become close to impossible for devotees to walk up the hill due to the extremely bad condition of the road. Children and senior citizens can be seen taking breaks every now and then to catch their breath.
A one-kilometre stretch of the path is a mud-road and not once has it been tarred. Despite hundreds of devotees using the road every day and weddings happening in the temples at the hilltop, the authorities concerned have not improved the condition of the road, some regular visitors said.
As for travelling in vehicles, even though four-wheelers can drive on the road safely, people on two-wheelers face hardship because they are enveloped by a layer of dust as they take the mud-road. There are also high chances of the two-wheelers skidding.
Devotees said that many jathra mahotsavas happen during festivals that attract a crowd. In addition, there are three temples, which is enough to attract a lot of people daily. But, no arrangements have been made so that the devotees’ trips go on comfortably, they added.
“Some years ago, a person called Ashwathnarayana had shown interest in getting the road tarred, but in vain. Later, some businessmen came forward to tar the road but it was unsuccessful. Now, the devotees who prefer to walk have lost hopes the road getting better,” Shanthakumar, the chief priest of Lakshminarasimhaswamy temple, told Deccan Herald.
He added that the temple trust did not have the power to lay roads. If the Muzrai department takes action and improve the condition of the road, it will benefit many of us, he added.
The priest said that after this matter was brought to the notice of Legislator Dr K Sudhakar, he assured them that he would give a proposal to the government regarding tarring the road under the budget of Rs 2.80 crore.
“However, we do not know how long it will take for that project to get implemented,” he added.