The Valmiki Nayaka community has built a new temple in Kenchalgudu village of Mysore district opposing the entry of Adi Karnataka community members, who are Dalits, in the Lakshminarayanaswamy temple in the village, which comes under the muzrai department of the Karnataka government, people aware of the matter said.

Kenchalgudu village is populated by 45 families belonging to the scheduled caste (Adi Karnataka), 50 to the scheduled tribe (Valmiki Nayaka), and 4-5 families to the Arasu community.. The village houses three temples under the muzrai department, where Nayaka and Arasu communities have been actively participating in rituals

While the Lakshminarayanaswamy temple was under the jurisdiction of the muzrai department, members of the scheduled caste were denied entry until recently. Following complaints, the muzrai department intervened and allowed the temple entry of the scheduled caste on December 2. However, those who entered the temple faced ostracization in the village, leading to their expulsion by the panchayat the next day.

“We did not like the entry of some people into the old temple. So, we have built a new temple so that we will stay away from those pepple. The new temple has been built on private land and it does not come under the muzrai department. We can have our regulations at the temple,”Valmiki community leader Manchanayaka told reporters.

Dalit leader Purushotham refuted this, saying the temple has been built on government land. “A new temple was swiftly constructed within a month on government land, located a mile away from the original temple,’’ he told reporters. He demanded intervention from authorities to ensure compliance with the law.

The Nayak community and other villagers constructed new temple within a month, with each household contributing between ₹5,000 to ₹15,000 . The controversy escalated when a group of villagers sought permission from the taluk administration to conduct the annual Sankranti festival at the new temple.

A peace meeting was organised on Tuesday, led by Mysore tehsildar KM Mohan Kumar, where leaders from the Adi Karnataka, Valmiki, and Nayaka communities participated.

“If the temple has been constructed on a private land, we could not force entry of everyone there. But the Dalit community alleged that temple has been constructed on government land. we will verify the land records and then take a decision, ‘’ tehsildar Mohan Kumar told HT. .