The Hasanamba Temple festival in Hassan is on course to set a new attendance record, with more than 22 lakh devotees visiting since October 30 and daily crowds reaching up to three lakh during weekends and holidays. The annual festival is scheduled to conclude on November 11.
Assistant commissioner and temple administrative officer Jagadish Gangannavar said the administration expects total footfall to reach between 28 lakh and 30 lakh by the end of the festival. Around two lakh to 2.5 lakh devotees are currently visiting the temple each day, while the number rises to nearly three lakh on weekends and public holidays.
Revenue from Rs 1,000 and Rs 300 darshan tickets and laddu prasada sales has crossed Rs 19 crore, excluding collections from the hundi. The figures reflect the scale of the festival’s operations, which require the administration to manage large visitor flows over a limited period and maintain access to the temple during peak days.
The festival’s current attendance has already brought it close to last year’s record. In 2025, the temple received 26,06,691 devotees and generated total revenue of Rs 25.6 crore from ticket sales, laddu prasada and hundi collections. That was reported as the festival’s all-time record at the time.
The temple administration expects this year’s footfall and revenue to surpass those figures before the festival closes. The anticipated increase is linked to the remaining festival days, including the Deepavali holiday period, when the district administration expects crowd volumes to remain high.
The scale of attendance makes crowd movement and visitor safety central to the final days of the festival. The district administration has appealed to devotees to maintain peace and cooperate with officials. It has also said that necessary arrangements have been made for safe and smooth darshan, without detailing the specific deployment or facilities in the report.
The festival is also expected to see visits by Union minister HD Kumaraswamy and Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar. Kumaraswamy is scheduled to visit the temple on Sunday morning, followed by Shivakumar, who is expected to offer special prayers.
The final attendance and revenue figures will be known after the festival concludes on November 11. Until then, officials will continue managing daily inflows that are already exceeding two lakh visitors and are expected to rise during the remaining holiday period.
