Minister holds talks with devotees over Rs 500 crore offer to Kerala temple

Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Wednesday held talks with Bengaluru-based devotee Gana Shravan who offered development work to the tune of Rs 526 crore for the Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple in Ernakulam district, around 10 kilometres from Kochi city.

The proposal of Shravan was pending for more than a year as the authorities were quite concerned about accepting such a huge offer.

During the meeting with the Devaswom Minister and other officials concerned, it was decided that the proposal of Shravan would be submitted before the devaswom bench of Kerala High court and once the HC gave its nod, it could be taken forward.

Shravan told DH that he hoped to commence the proposed development work at least by next month. He said that he had received many fortunes in life and business after he started visiting the temple regularly and hence he was making the donation.

According to the proposal, the first phase development work of Rs 254 crore includes renovation of the temple, construction of new gopurams (entrance), construction of a marriage hall, waste treatment plant, and setting up parking facility. The second-phase would include developing the roads leading to the temple. Apart these, Shravan had also offered to set up a hospital in the locality.

Shravan, aged 46, is a native of Chikkaballapur district. He said that he was basically in the music field for nearly 20 years. But there was not much fortune in his life. Four years back he visited the Chottanikkara temple as advised by his guru and thereafter he got much fortune in business.

He said that he was mainly into gold, diamond, and rare metals trading by associating with a Mumbai based firm and was also setting up a jewel shop at Bengaluru. He was also into construction and interior design business in Bengaluru.