Bengaluru, January 20, 2017: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to grant Rs 500 crore for organising the Mahamasthakabhisheka at Shravanabelagola in Hassan district in February next year.

The state government is making every effort to make the upcoming event a grand success. The grant, if released, will be utilised for the overall development of the pilgrim centre and to provide better service to lakhs of devotees, who attend the event from across the globe, the chief minister stated in a letter to the finance minister.

Temporary and permanent infrastructure such as roads, water supply and shelters will be created for the sake of devotees. Projects for preserving the hills, setting up of a higher seat of education for Prakrit language and creating a library and a research centre for historians will also be taken up, he said.

Increasing awareness on Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri, spreading the story of Bahubali and its relevance to the Digambaras and to the Jain community have been planned as part of the event that is held every 12 years. A modern light-and-sound show is proposed to be implemented to effectively narrate these stories to the younger generation, Siddaramaiah added. The chief minister noted that the then government at the Centre had granted Rs 90 crore for organising Mahamasthakabhisheka in 2006. – News Courtesy: Deccan Herald