The Karnataka government has instructed officials to begin work on redeveloping a temple site at Anjeyanadri Hill in the Koppal district, which is said to be the birthplace of Hindu god Hanuman.
Anand Singh, the state’s tourism minister, said that the project has been allocated Rs 100 crore and that a plan for the construction work is ready.
An argument between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh about ownership of the “genuine” Hanuman Janamsthal has erupted at the same time as the announcement.
While Karnataka asserts that the Hindu deity was born on the Anjeyanadri Hill in Kishkinda, north Karnataka, close to Hampi, Andhra is claiming that Anjanadri in the seven hills of Tirumala is where the Hindu deity was born.
The Ram mandir is now under construction at Ayodhya, but the BJP-led administration of Chief Minister Basvaraj Bommai plans to connect the Hanuman temple at Anjeyanadri Hill with it via a tourist corridor.
The idea calls for upgrading the temple that currently exists on Anjeyanadri Hill. The temple is located approximately 20 kilometres from the Hampi world heritage site and looks out over the Tungabhadra river.
Hampi is said to represent “Kishkindha,” the legendary kingdom of “vanaras” or monkeys mentioned in the Ramayana.
The idea calls for the building of detours to the hill temple as well as road improvements.
Bommai instructed officials in a statement that was released on Saturday: “The project needs 60 acres of land. 58 acres of this total are farmers’ private property. After obtaining the farmers’ approval, acquire the land, or do it through the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).
Bommai has shown a personal interest in the project and has attended several meetings on it.
The CM said that on July 15 he will go to the hill location for another evaluation meeting.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which oversees temples in Andhra Pradesh including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, assembled an expert panel in December 2020 consisting of Vedic scholars, archaeologists, and an ISRO scientist to investigate and submit a report identifying the precise location of Hanuman’s birth.
The committee asserted that Anjanadri Hill in Andhra was the site of Hanuman’s birth later in April 2021. K S Jawahar Reddy, the executive officer of TTD, had earlier claimed that their assertion was supported by mythological, astrological, and scientific data.
According to several politicians from Karnataka, the Anjeyanadri Hill in Hampi is mentioned in the Ramayana as the spot where the Hindu hero Ram and his younger brother Laxman first encountered Hanuman. The hill features temples for Rama, Sita, and Anjana Devi nearby, as well as a Hanuman shrine with a rock-carved statue at its summit. This hill will be turned into a pilgrimage site by the Karnataka government under the name Hanuman Janmasthala (birthplace in).
In reality, the Karnataka Tourism Department began developing its plans to develop the hill temple site not long after the TTD panel was established.
