The doors of the Hasanamba temple in Hassan were closed as the Hasanamba festival on October 23, 2025 ended. Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowa and lawmakers were present. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The doors of the historic Hasanamba temple in Hassan were closed on Thursday (October 23, 2025) after traditional rituals to mark the culmination of the Hasanamba festival that began on October 9. The temple will remain closed till October 29, 2026.
The doors were locked in the presence of Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda, who is also the minister in-charge of Hassan district, legislators, senior district officers and several local people. The temple is open for devotees only during the annual festival.
The Hasanba temple saw a record number of devotees
More than 1.2 million devotees visited the Hasanamba Temple in Hassan for ‘darshana’ of the deity, with the queue still growing as the numbers swelled well after 11:00 pm on October 11, 2025. | Special arrangement | Video Credit: The Hindu
More traffic, more revenue
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Krishna Byregowda said this year that 26,13,000 people had the darshan of the deity during the festival. The number of visitors was almost 8.5 million more than last year. Last year, 17.4 million people visited the temple.
The temple administration earned ₹ 21.82 crore from ticket sales this year. Last year, the revenue from ticket sales was ₹9.68 crore. “Last year, 1.4 million people bought tickets. This year, 3.6 million people bought them, which is almost three times more than last year,” the minister said. The revenue figures did not include hundi collections.
Hundreds of devotees waiting in line at the Hasanamba temple in Hassan. | Photo credit: PRAKASH HASSAN
Smooth and successful
The minister said the event was a success and common devotees from different parts of the state had a smooth darshan of the deity even though they had to stand in long queues for many days. The cooperation of elected representatives, the administration and the public was significant.
“This time we have streamlined the entry of VIPs into the temple. The VIPs also cooperated with the administration by following the restrictions. In several cases, VIPs who arrived outside the time allotted for them entered the temple through other queues meant for the public,” he said.
Lok Sabha Member Shreyas M. Patel, Arasikere MLA KM Shivalinge Gowda, Hassan MLA HP Swaroop, DC KS Lathakumari, Zilla Panchayat CEO BR Poornima, SP Mohammed Sujeetha and others were present.
Published – 23 Oct 2025 16:02 IST
