Khammam: Agri labourer builds temple of Sonu Sood
Khammam: Indian Actor, Sonu Sood is often described as a ‘villain with a heart of gold’ because of the philanthropic activities he did during the Covid-19 lockdown period across the country.
Though famous for the negative characters he donned in feature films, the actor has become a real hero winning the hearts of millions of people across the country and becoming a demigod for them with his charity work.
An agriculture labourer, Gurram Venkateshwarlu of Garlapadu village in Bonakal mandal in the district is one of them who saw god in Sonu Sood. Despite earning a meagre income, he built a temple by installing the actor’s bust in it with his own money and dedicated it to the philanthropist. A banner behind the bust was put up and read, “Temple of Sonu Sood — the philanthropist of mankind and demigod for poor’. A couple of photographs of Dr BR Ambedkar and Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad were also placed in the background on each side of the bust.
The temple, built on a piece of land adjacent to the local RCM Church, has been inaugurated on Sunday amid much fanfare and national flag hoisting by the former sarpanch of the village Tata Venkaiah in the presence of MPTC member M Appa Rao and Bonakal vice MPP member G Ramesh and the villagers.
“I am very much impressed with the charitable work being done by Sonu Sood, who offered monetary and logistical support to hundreds of migrant labourers and others who found themselves in a hapless situation due to the Covid-induced lockdown”.
“I am a labourer and I know how difficult it could be being stranded in a non-native place, especially cities like Mumbai without any help and money”, Venkateshwarlu told Telangana Today on Monday, explaining why he wanted to build a temple for the actor.
The statue was sculpted by a sculptor Venkateshwar Rao of Gollapudi area near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and delivered on September 6 after the order was placed by Venkateswarlu in May this year. The temple was erected in memory of his parents Nagulu and Venkata Ravamma.
“We kept the statue in our house and we worshipped it till the construction of the temple was completed,” the agriculture labourer said. When asked about the expenditure incurred on the task, he denied divulging the details by saying, “Money is not a matter when it comes to adoring a great human being like Sonu Sood”.
Replying to a question whether his family members objected to his idea of building a temple for an actor as it involved a good amount of expenditure, Venkateshwalu said he consulted his wife Mariyamma, sons Venu and Vishnu before embarking on the project and they happily agreed to his proposal.
The place where the temple has been built was identified by the consent of the local village committee and elected members of the Gram Panchayat. “It is indeed a matter of great pride for us as we have a temple dedicated to a philanthropist like Sonu Sood,” say the elated villagers K Rama Swamy and Y Ashok.
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