CM KCR inaugurates renovated Yadadri temple

The 'Samprokshana' celebrations began with 'Maha Poornahuthi' at 9 am amid chanting of Vedic mantras by priests and rithwiks.

Hyderabad/Yadadri: Chants of ‘Om Narasimhaya’ by devotees reverberated across the Yadadri hill on Monday, seemingly mitigating the harshness of a scorching summer sun, as a new chapter in the temple history of Telangana unfolded before them. Gone was the tiny shrine of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy atop the hill, and in its place, devotees for the first time in six years, saw a magnificent blackstone temple rise before their eyes as they entered the renovated main temple complex.

The grand temple and the accompanying infrastructure, all in a sprawling complex perhaps rivalled only by the Tirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh, is replete with towering gold-plated ‘Gopurams,’ scores of sculptures that tell stories of the yore, state-of-the-art facilities for devotees, ample car parking, transport facility and cottages. A major dream of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who followed the renovation works with a microscope, the grandeur of the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple is the result of the ‘blood, sweat and tears’ of hundreds of sculptors, workers and officials who toiled day and night to achieve in six years what many believe would have taken 20 years.

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The renovated temple complex has all the trappings to emerge as a ‘must visit’ pilgrim centre not only for people from the State but also from across the country.

The morning belonged to rituals performed in the presence of Chandrashekhar Rao, clad in traditional clothes, his wife Shobha, Ministers and officials before the waiting crowd of devotees were let in to catch the first glimpse of the presiding deity in the sanctum sanctorum.

Marking the reopening of the main temple, Chandrashekhar Rao, who attended the concluding ceremony of the week-long ‘Maha Kumbha Samprokshana,’ performed the rituals as well as the first puja to the Swayambhuvu presiding deities after their installation in the renovated sanctum sanctorum.

Amidst the chanting of Vedic hymns, the Shobha Yatra of the presiding deities was taken out from Balayalam to the sanctum sanctorum following which a special puja was performed to the deities. Chandrashekhar Rao himself lent a shoulder to the palanquin carrying the presiding deities. After the installation of the presiding deities in the sanctum sactorum, the Chief Minister and his wife performed the first puja followed which they received Maha Nivedana and the first prasadam from the chief priest. They also performed special puja to the gold-plated Dwajasthabham installed at the temple.

The celebrations began with ‘Maha Poornahuthi’ at 9 am amid chanting of Vedic mantras by priests and rithwiks. The ‘Samprokshana’ was performed with the sacred water collected from different rivers and used in the ‘Panchakundatmaka Yagam’ that has been going on since March 21, to cleanse the Vimana Gopuram and other Gopurams. In a well orchestrated religious exercise, 92 rithwiks performed ‘Samprokshana’ puja to Sri Sudarshana Swarana Chakra atop the Divya Vimanam and Swarna Kalashams on the six Gopurams simultaneously.

Earlier, the Chief Minister arrived at the temple complex by a special helicopter at around 9.45 am. He was accompanied by his wife, other family members, host of Cabinet Ministers and their families, legislators, TRS leaders and officials. Upon arrival at the temple complex, Chandrashekhar Rao was received with Veda Ashirvachanams from the priests and rithwiks.

Meanwhile, all the Ministers were given duties to perform Kalasha pujas at different locations in the temple complex simultaneously as part of the ceremony.

The mega temple renovation project was taken up at a cost of Rs 1,280 crore including Rs 280 crore exclusively utilised for temple development and another Rs 1,000 crore for creation of essential infrastructure.

The architectural masterpiece is a fusion of both Dravidian and Kakatiyan styles of architecture, constructed with 2.5 lakh tonnes of black granite. More than 2,000 sculptors and workers were engaged in the reconstruction work and a few pertaining to Vrata Mandapam and other facilities, are under progress.

Elaborate arrangements have been made to handle the heavy flow of devotees expected to throng the temple commencing Tuesday.

 

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