How Media Bias Turned Dharmasthala’s Sacred Legacy into a Target for Misinformation

On 3 July, a sanitation worker who once served at the 800-year-old Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Temple walked into the Superintendent of Police's office in Dakshina Kannada with a six-page complaint. His claims were shocking: between 1995 and 2014, he alleged, he was forced to bury hundreds of murder victims-many of them women and young girls-silenced forever after alleged assaults.

It was a sensational story, and in the age of social media, sensational stories travel fast. Within days, videos, posts, and speculative 'exposés' began to circulate online. YouTubers dissected the allegations with dramatic flair, influencers inserted their own spin, and certain media outlets jumped to conclusions, crafting a dark, damning image of Dharmasthala before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had even lifted a spade.

But beneath the noise, facts told a quieter-and very different-story. Many mainstream Kannada editors and reporters, aware of the temple's centuries-long legacy of charity, education, and social service, recognised the contours of a familiar playbook: an agenda-driven attempt to discredit a revered Hindu institution. Rather than serve as megaphones for unverified claims, they chose restraint.

The danger here is larger than one man's allegations. It's about how selective amplification-by activist-journalists, politically motivated groups, and social media echo chambers-can create a perception of guilt without proof. In the telling of the Dharmasthala story, inconvenient facts were often omitted: court acquittals in earlier unrelated cases, decades of philanthropic work, and the temple's role as a beacon of interfaith harmony.

While the SIT continues its work, Karnataka's streets have told their own counter-narrative. In town after town-Chikkamagaluru, Koppal, Yadgir, Mysuru, Kalaburagi-thousands of devotees, community leaders, and even members of minority communities have marched in support of Dharmasthala. The rallies have carried not just placards, but a message: that the temple's legacy will not be dictated by viral outrage or one-sided reporting.

In an era where clicks often outweigh truth, Dharmasthala's ordeal is a reminder: bias in storytelling can be as damaging as the allegations themselves. And for a sacred institution that has withstood centuries of change, this moment is not just about clearing its name-it's about defending the very principle that truth must outlast the noise.