An Adelaide doctor has been forced to move out of his $2million home after his private in-house temple sparked an almost two-decade battle with his neighbours.
Dr Jagannath Mudaliar, a GP of the Sathya Sai Baba faith, first began hosting prayer sessions at his private indoor temple in 2007.
He was granted permission by the Burnside Council to host 25 guests at his home in Kensington Park, east Adelaide, on Thursday nights from 7pm to 9pm.
But his neighbours quickly complained about the increased noise, parking issues and odours they claimed emanated from the religious sessions.
The GP claims to have spent more than $17,000 fighting the complaints, and says the lengthy campaign has left him ‘bloody frustrated’.
‘I’m not going to fight this any more, I’ve had enough. The best thing is to move on. I’ll just (worship) in my own place, singularly with no crowds,’ he told realestate.com.au
Dr Mudaliar will move to a new property in Adelaide’s north after 35 years.
He added volunteers used one of the home’s three kitchens to prepare about 450 meals for the homeless every week.
Dr Jagannath Mudaliar used his home temple (pictured) to host weekly worship sessions
Dr Jagannath Mudaliar, a practitioner of the Sathya Sai Baba faith, began hosting religious sessions inside his private indoor temple in 2007 – before neighbours started to complain
Dr Mudaliar believes the home will most likely be bought by developers and knocked down
The GP hired a sound engineer to investigate noise complaints and found the noise levels were about equivalent to the sound of breathing inside the home, and non-existent outside it when recorded at the front gate.
A traffic officer also inspected complaints about cars and traffic on his residential street and found no issue.
Dr Mudaliar raised his family in the home, which has a price guide of $2.1million.
The home has three kitchens, two of which are suitable for commercial use.
The temple room boasts gold-coloured pillars, elaborate murals on the walls and polished timber floors.
Six bedrooms are spread between the front portion of the home and the temple, while a garden outside is filled with mature fruit trees.
Mr Mudaliar said the temple could be used by a catering business, a hairdressing salon or a wellness retreat.
But he thinks most likely it will be knocked down by developers, who will use the expanse of land to put up multiple dwellings.
