The Rs 2 crore 'Brahmaratha', which replaced the 400-year-old Brahmaratha of Kukke Subrahmanya temple in 2019, was the last massive donation from fugitive don-turned-entrepreneur N Muthappa Rai who passed away in Bengaluru on Friday.
Rai was ailing and his son Rikki Rai had represented his father when the new 'Brahmaratha' was dedicated prior to Champa Shashti. The temple management committee had approached Rai after he donated a massive Brahmaratha worth Rs 1.5 crore to Mahalingeshwara temple at Puttur in 2011.
Rai, a native of Keyyur in Puttur taluk, completed his initial schooling in the village, higher studies in Puttur and Shringeri. He joined Vijaya Bank as a clerk in 1976 and took to crime after he was transferred to Puttur. He joined a gang and soon quit his job. He left for Bengaluru in 1988 and subsequently fled to a foreign country.