Khammam: An auditorium newly built at Bhakta Ramadasu’s native place at Nelakondapalli in Khammam district is ready for inauguration.
The auditorium was built as part of modernisation of Bhakta Ramadasu Dhyana Mandiram, which was built in 1955 and modernised once in the year 2000.
Due to lack of space, cultural and spiritual events such as the mass recital of Ramadasu keerthanas on the occasion of Sri Rama Navami, Ramadasu jayanthi and aradhana utsavams were being conducted outside the Dhyana Mandiram.
A proposal was made to develop a modern and spacious auditorium cum Dhyana Mandiram adjacent to the existing Dhyana Mandiram in 2018 during the previous BRS regime to accommodate a large number of devotees attending the events from across the State.
An amount of Rs 2.5 crore was allocated for the construction.
The auditorium could accommodate 500 persons. The walls inside are decorated with paintings depicting important events from Ramayana as well key incidents in the life of Ramadasu whose original name was Kancharla Gopanna.
According to our history, Gopanna built Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Temple at Bhadrachalam after Lord Rama appeared to him in a dream and asked him to build a temple for him at Bhadrachalam. The newly built auditorium would soon be handed over to Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Devasthanam, officials said.