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Veerendra Heggade | |
|---|---|
 Heggade at SDM College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad | |
| Title | ????? |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1948-11-25)25 November 1948 (age 76) Bantwal, Mysore State, Dominion of India (present–day Karnataka, India) |
| Other names | Heggade/Pergade,Kavandaru, Dharmarathna, Dharmabhushana |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Jainism |
| Religious career | |
| Based in | Dharmastala, Karnataka, India |
| Post | (Hereditary administrator) ofDharmasthala Temple |
| Period in office | 1968 - present |
| Predecessor | Ratnavarma Heggade |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (Karnataka) | |
| Assumed office 7 July 2022 | |
| Nominated by | Ramnath Kovind |
| Constituency | Nominated (Social work) |
| Website | www |
| Part ofa series on |
| Jainism |
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Ethics Ethics of Jainism
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Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade[1] (born 25 November 1948) is an Indian philanthropist and the hereditary administrator of theDharmasthala Temple in the Indian state of Karnataka. He succeeded to the post at the age of 19, on 24 October 1968, the 21st in his line.[2] He administers the temple and its properties, which are held in trust. He is a nominatedMember of Parliament in theRajya Sabha since July 2022.
He was awarded theKarnataka Ratna award for the year 2009, the highest civilian award inKarnataka.[3]
His tenure atDharmasthala has been marked by controversy, including unresolved rape and murder cases and allegations of cover-ups by temple officials and his family members.[4][5]
Heggade is the eldest son of DharmadhikariRatnavarma Heggade and Rathnamma Heggade (née Shetty). He belongs to the Pergade dynasty ofTuluJain Bunt[6] lineage, the hereditary trustees of the SriDharmasthalaManjunatha Swamy temple inDakshina Kannada district ofKarnataka. The family are trustees of aHindu temple, although the family belong to theJain community.[7]
He runs the Annapoorna kitchen at Dharmasthala, which is one of the largest and oldest family-run kitchens in India. The kitchen feeds around 50,000 persons every day. It was featured on the National Geographic TV show, "Mega Kitchens".[8]
He is the President of SDM Educational Society, Ujire, which manages educational institutions from primary to engineering, medical, ayurvedic and management institutes as well as hospitals.[9]
Sowjanya, a 17-year-old student, was raped and murdered inDharmasthala in 2012, and the case remains unresolved, with the accused acquitted in 2023 due to lack of evidence.[16] Activists and the victim's family accuse influential figures, possibly connected to Heggade, of shielding the real culprits. Additionally, reports highlight around 462 unnatural deaths in Dharmasthala over 10 years (up to 2013), suggesting a pattern of systemic issues.[17]
In response, Heggade has stated that the name ofDharmasthala is being tarnished by those opposing its progress and has emphasized his commitment to serving the community despite facing criticism.[18]
In July 2025, a former sanitation worker employed by the Dharmasthala temple administration between 1995 and 2014 alleged that he was coerced by influential figures to burn and bury the bodies of hundreds of rape and murder victims at various sites aroundDharmasthala. The police registered a case under section 211(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and are seeking court permission to exhume the alleged burial sites to verify his claims.[4][5]
On 19 July 2025, the Karnataka government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by DGP Pronab Mohanty, to probe the former sanitation worker’s allegations of secret mass burials at Dharmasthala.[19][20]
In August 2025, the SIT arrested the same sanitation worker on charges including perjury and furnishing false evidence, a Belthangady court remanded him to 10 days’ police custody while the probe continues.[21][22][23][24]
Around the same time, Veerendra Heggade describing the allegations as “baseless” and “morally wrong,” said he was “deeply hurt,” and stated that Dharmasthala would cooperate fully with a fair, transparent SIT investigation. The Temple authorities likewise issued a statement welcoming such a probe.[25][26][27]
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