At Hastinapura, on the fringes of the Chikkamagaluru constituency, among the various serrated edges that mark out the peaks of the Western Ghats, the tall mobile tower on the Bababudangiri hill is the most visible.
Since 2002, Paramesh Naik, a marginal farmer, had participated in many rallies that marched up the hill demanding that the syncretic Sree Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah at the peak be declared a Hindu temple.
This year, however, as an estimated 20,000 people gathered there for the celebration of Datta Jayanti, which was started by Sangh affiliates in early 2000s, Mr. Naik stayed in his village, grappling with the harsh realities of a three-year drought.
At the shrine, after a series of provocative speeches, a mob broke the tombstones at the dargah.
For many like Mr. Naik, who has now abandoned his areca cultivation, drought has trumped Hindutva.
Drought and distress perhaps explain why the formerly communally sensitive district saw barely a whimper when in March, the State Cabinet — following Supreme Court directions — accepted a three-member committee report which recommended status quo.
The Shah Khadri (hereditary administrator) will be the administrator of the shrine and performer of rituals.
Wilting areca trees, vast expanses of dry lakes and barren, abandoned fields pockmark the area where drought was an infrequent visitor.
This has to spread among the people,” Mr. Ravi says.
“But Datta Peeta is not a movement for elections.