Tourism push in Karnataka's Beladakuppe raises alarm over threat to wildlife

Karnataka government’s recent Tourism Policy for 2024-29, promoting 13 new places in Mysuru district as tourist spots, including Beladakuppe Mahadeshwara temple in Saragur taluk, has drawn flak from environmentalists. The temple lies in Hediyala range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

The recent incident of a tiger attacking farmer Mahadev of Badagalapura village, during a tiger combing operation, left him blind. He is still undergoing treatment.

The incident has sent shock waves among the people. At a time when human-animal conflict is on a rise and the Forest department rescuing a tiger on the fringes of the forest in Saragur taluk recently, wildlife lovers and environmentalists are opposing inclusion of Beladakuppe Mahadeshwara temple in the list of tourist spots. 

The Mahadeshwara temple, located in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, attracts a large number of devotees during ‘Karthika Masa’ of the Hindu calendar and on Amavasya (New Moon) Day.

Environmentalists have been opposing the authorities for letting the devotees to the temple, claiming that it would affect the wildlife and also the safety of the people.

The new announcement of the government, to promote it as a tourist spot, means continuous flow of people, which is 6 km inside the forest. This sounds a death knell to wildlife and environment, claim green activists.

The tiger population in Bandipur and Nagarahole wildlife areas has increased. Old and injured tigers are expanding their territory. They are entering the buffer zone of the forest and are attacking humans, claim environmentalists.

The government had approved district-wise tourist destinations, under the 2024-29 Tourism Policy. Promoting Beladakuppe temple as a tourist spot means development in the forest area. Movement of vehicles and people would hinder the free movement of wild animals and the possibilities of human-wildlife conflict is more. The project should be dropped, stressed wildlife conservationist Giridhar Kulkarni. 

Annual fair

The annual jatra of Sri Mahadeshwara Swamy temple at Beladakuppe is celebrated in the month of November, on the last Monday of ‘Karthika Masa’. Thousands of devotees visit the temple on the day.

Environmentalists have been urging the authorities to prohibit the annual fair at Beladakuppe, which impacts the forest and poses a threat to wild animals. Based on their representation, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) submitted a report, after site inspection, stating that shifting of the entire Beladakuppe Jatra Mahotsava out of the core area of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, is a permanent solution, in the interest of wildlife. But, the district administration has been giving permission for the jatra, neglecting the suggestions of the NTCA to shift the festival out of the core forest area.

Holding a grand festival inside the forest is a violation. The temple was handed over to Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment department in 2022. The department should take all measures to shift the temple outside the core forest, said a Forest officer.