Better Infrastructure and Development Needed for Asoga village in Khanapur taluka

The Shri Ramling Devasthan (temple) at Asoga, is an ancient religious place located at a short distance from Khanapur. People from Khanapur and nearby villages visit the temple every Monday; huge crowds visit the temple during the holy month of Shravan, and on the auspicious occasion of Mahashivaratri and also throughout the year.

The ‘Nadiya Kinare’ song of the Hindi film ‘Abhiman’ starring Amitabh Bachan and Jaya Bachan was shot here on the banks of the river Malaprabha in the year 1970 by late Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee (popularly known as Hrishi-da). The rocky bed of the river is another of the attractions but the temple and the village has not got the attention it deserves.

The basic infrastructure is not in place as there is no connectivity with proper roads; no bus facility; till date a river ghat for pilgrims has not been constructed; a kalyan mantap is another of the demands of the people; there’s no yatri niwas for the tourists visiting the place from within the state and outside, and a garden within the temple premises is also needed for the young and old visiting the temple. The government needs to pay more attention to develop the famous tourist place of Asoga.

Advocate and social worker from the village, Chetan Manerikar, while speaking to Team NK, said that “the place needs to be developed as Asoga is a famous pilgrim centre and it lacks even the basic infrastructure”. In the year 2014, the Dy. Commissioner (Muzrai) appointed Revenue Inspector, Khanapur, as Administrator over the said Trust. Recently, a person of Dy. Tahshildar’s rank has been appointed as Administrator over the Devasthan. The local people complain that no developmental activity has taken place since and the concerned official does not even visit the temple even once a month.