Kishore Kunal

Kishore Kunal was a police officer who became known for turning a Patna temple into the engine of a chain of charitable hospitals. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2025, posthumously, in the field of civil service, from Bihar ^[1].

Mahavir Mandir

Kunal was born on 10 August 1950 ^[2]. As superintendent of police in Patna in 1983–84, he oversaw the rebuilding of the Mahavir Mandir and put its finances in order; the citation records its income growing from ₹12,000 a month then to about ₹350 crore a year today ^[2].

Hospitals for the poor

He linked the temple’s work with social service, founding nine charitable hospitals ^[2]. They include the Mahavir Arogya Sansthan (1989) and the Mahavir Cancer Sansthan (1998), a 700-bed hospital that offers subsidised care to the poor and free treatment to patients under 18 ^[2]. Shortly before his death he laid the foundation for a cancer hospital for children ^[2].

In 1993 he appointed a Dalit priest at Patna’s Hanuman Mandir, and as an administrator of the Bihar State Religious Trust Board he pushed for Dalit priests and trustees at major temples ^[2].

Ayodhya

In 1989 he was appointed officer on special duty in a Home Ministry cell set up to help resolve the Ayodhya dispute, serving under three prime ministers ^[2]. He wrote two books on Ayodhya’s history, Ayodhya Revisited and Ayodhya Beyond Adduced Evidence, which were placed before the courts in the case ^[2].

Kishore Kunal died on 29 December 2024 ^[2].