Actor Rakshit Shetty and Congress politician Mithun Rai have traded barbs, debating about the land on which the historic Shri Udupi Krishna temple stands in the temple town of Udupi in coastal Karnataka. It started with Mithun Rai making an impassioned speech about communal harmony in Puttige of Moodbidri near Mangaluru. "This district is known for communal harmony," he said. He went on to cite example of Bappanadu temple, "how there is a Muslim priest at Kavatharu Koragajja temple." He then said, "Muslims gave land to Udupi Sri Krishna temple." He further said, "People of all religions come to pray at Attur church and Subramanya temple. If you visit Ullal dargah, there's no caste or religion. It's a sacred place where only importance is given to humanity."
Actor-Producer Rakshit Shetty, who hails from Udupi, took to Twitter to express his disagreement with Mithun's statement, questioning why anyone would make such a statement about something they did not have knowledge about. “The temple town of Udupi has a written history of more than thousand years… Why talk nonsense on a public platform when you have no idea???” Rakshit said.
In response to the controversy, Mithun Rai said that he was merely citing the late Pejawar mutt seer Vishwesha Theertha Swami, who was one of the most prominent Hindutva icons in south India and the force behind the Sangh Parivar's mobilisation for the Ayodhya movement in the late 1990s.
Since then many anti-Hindutva activists have circulated a video clip from June 24, 2017, in which the late seer hosted an Iftar for Muslims at the Krishna Mutt and said, “This was the first time in the history of the temple where members of the Muslim community attended an Iftar organised at the temple. A Muslim ruler gave land to Madhwacharya to build the math. Raghavendra and Madhwacharya had a good rapport with Muslims. Friendly contact with Muslims dates back to mediaeval times."
Mithun further claimed that the controversy was created by Rakshit Shetty at the behest of the BJP as a political gimmick to distract the public from issues of corruption in the state. “They could not find a better way of distracting the public minds from the various topics of corruption that the state has seen in the last few days,” he said. He also defended his stance on communal harmony and stated that it was in line with the teachings of the Pejawar seer, who was highly respected in the Udupi and Dakshina Kannada regions. “Communal harmony is what I preach, like what our respectable Seer taught us, since Udupi and Dakshina Kannada are in dire need of it,” he said.
Mithun also urged his followers to put an end to the controversy and not target actor Rakshith Shetty. “I request all my followers to put an end to this confusion and the created controversy and not to target our young budding actor Rakshith Shetty,” he said.
— Mithun Rai (@TheMithunRai) March 12, 2023
The controversy has sparked a debate in Karnataka, with people divided over the issue. While some believe that Mithun's statement is baseless, others have defended him, stating that he may have been misinformed.
The temple town of Udupi has written history of more than thousand years… Why talk nonsense on a public platform when you have no idea???
— Rakshit Shetty (@rakshitshetty) March 11, 2023
Responding to Twitter users pointing out the seer’s speech, Rakshit tweeted. "With all due respect, not sure which land he is talking about but definitely not the land in Car Street… The Ananteshwara temple is even older than Krishna Math and the Chandramaulishwar temple is even older…"
Temple town of Udupi has Chandramaulishwara which is the oldest of all temples and then the Ananteshwara which is the second oldest and then comes the Krishna temple. All three temples are in car street… I am thorough with what I speak Sir https://t.co/dHWt5LrKLN
— Rakshit Shetty (@rakshitshetty) March 11, 2023
The Udupi math, which is one of the most important pilgrimage centres in Karnataka, has a rich history. Within the Udupi Sri Krishna temple, there exists a Muslim influence. Carvings encircling the shrine of the serpent god Subramanya within the temple portray the encounter between the Dvaita philosopher Vadiraja Theertha and Mughal emperor Humayun, referred to as the ‘Dilli dore’ (Delhi ruler), in Delhi during the 16th century. These carvings narrate the story of Vadiraja rescuing Humayun's son Akbar and receiving a bounty of gold in return. It is said that the gold was buried in Udupi, and the Subramanya gudi — the shrine of the serpent god — was constructed on top of this piece of land.