When N Subba Narasimha, Bengaluru city President of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), casually requested his party men to spare two days to clean the Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt, many agreed to volunteer the cause, as the mutt in Mantralayam is the Samadhi of Guru Sarva Bhouma Raghavendra Swamy. Devotees believe that Swamy is still present inside the mutt and blesses all those who come to see him.Around 400 volunteers from Bengaluru and 60 volunteers from Bellary reached Mantralayam early morning on October 18. After a brief rest, they all congregated outside the mutt and formed different teams, each consisting of 50 to 70 people, to focus on different areas like Tunga Bhadra river bed, mutt premises, guest houses, bus stands, main roads, shopping complexes and the villages.The two days of ‘Swachh-Mantralaya’ created a momentum in the mutt and visiting devotees were inspired to take part in the abhiyan. It can be recalled that both Mantralayam Village and Raghavendra Swamy Mutt were damaged due to heavy floods on October 1and 2 in the year 2009. Mutt was rebuilt and all the facilities in and around the mutt were restored with the help of donors.

—R Guruprasad from Bengaluru