Victory in Illinois, prayers at Kukke Subrahmanya

MANGALURU: As news of Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi’s re-election to the US House of Representatives came in, preparations began at Kukke Subrahmanya Temple in Dakshina Kannada for special pujas which the Congressman requested to be performed on his behalf.

Krishnamoorthi, who is part of the so-called Samosa caucus of Indian-American lawmakers, conveyed that he had made a vow to visit the temple and would do so soon.

This is Krishnamoorthi’s third consecutive term. The 47-year-old, who was born in Delhi, easily defeated Preston Nelson of the Libertarian Party. Krishnamoorthi, whose parents are from Tamil Nadu, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2016.

He visited Kukke and offered special prayers in 2018 as well. Gopinath Nambisha, PRO of the temple, who accompanied Krishnamoorthi and his mother then, said Krishnamoorthi had heard of the temple from Nagendra Rao, a priest at a temple in Chicago. “We have received a message through Nagendra Bhat that by the grace of God, Krishnamoorthi has won this time too. He also said Krishnamoorthi has communicated his wish to visit the temple at the earliest,” added Gopinath.

Krishnamoorthi represents the 8th District of Illinois. The lawmaker and his wife, Priya, a physician, live in Schaumburg with their two sons and baby daughter.

Kukke temple is situated about 100km from Mangaluru and is known across the globe for performing Sarpa Samskara, Sarpa Dosha and other pujas.

Among its high-profile devotees are cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Javagal Srinath, Ravi Shastri, Venkatesh Prasad; actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, Juhi Chawla, and dozens of politicians. BJP veteran and home minister Amit Shah visited the temple in 2018.