Telangana devoted to temple development

Temples, including Yadadri, see a major metamorphosis; salaries for priests on part with govt employees

Hyderabad: For many decades in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, temples used to be in shambles, with many historic ones beginning to fall apart with no repair, conservation or maintenance works taken up. Priests too struggled to stay afloat, with the mediocre salaries being barely enough for two square meals a day.

From 2014, things have changed. Temples in Telangana have seen a major metamorphosis with the TRS government also paying attention to the living conditions of priests, ensuring that they get salaries on par with government employees.

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Right from performing ‘yagams’ for the wellbeing of the State to the construction of the Yadadri temple and the allocation of funds for the development of other popular temples in the State, key initiatives over the last six years are bearing fruit.

As promised, with Telangana attaining statehood, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao fulfilled his vows by presenting gold ornaments at Sri Bhadrakali Temple in Warangal, Kuravi Veerabhadra Swamy Temple in Mahabubabad, Sri Kanakadurga Temple in Vijayawada and Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirupati.

To develop a world-class temple tourism site, Rao started the construction of the Yadadri temple at a cost of over Rs 2,000 crore and regularly inspected the progress. The works were already completed, with Yadadri already earning a name for itself as Telangana’s spiritual capital.

The focus was also laid on improving amenities to devotees at Yadadri by constructing cottages and other buildings for supplying free food to devotees. The highway connecting Yadadri from Medipally and the greenery on the median indicates the focus laid on developing the temple on all fronts. The travel time to reach Yadadri from the city would also be reduced once the construction of the 6.4-km flyover from Uppal to Narapally is completed.

During his visit to the districts, the Chief Minister also asked officials to expedite works pertaining to the development of Sri Vemulawada Raja Rajeswara Swamy Temple, Sri Gnana Saraswathi Temple at Basar, Sri Bhadrakali Temple in Warangal and Sri Sita Ramachandraswamy Temple in Bhadrachalam.

The TRS government has not only taken up temple development works but also organised festivals on a grand note by allocating adequate funds. The colorful annual Bonalu festivities in Secunderabad and Hyderabad are a classic example.

Despite several requests to declare Bonalu as a State festival, the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government refused to do so. However, after the TRS came to power, the government gave Bonalu the State festival status and allocated funds to all Goddess temples in the twin cities. The biennial ‘Sammakka Saarakka’ tribal festival in Medaram is also celebrated on a magnificent note.

As for the welfare of priests, the government is now paying salaries to temple priests from the treasury. The ‘Archakas’, who perform rituals at Hindu temples, were brought under the purview of the Endowments Department. The ‘Dhoopa Deepa and Naivedyam’ programme was implemented in 4,805 temples and their funds were increased from Rs 2,500 to Rs 6,000.

Welcoming various initiatives taken by the TRS government, Yadadri retired chief priest Karampudi Narasimhacharyulu said all temples should be brought under one unit for developing them instead of categorising them into grades on the revenue basis.

“Chandrashekhar Rao is the only Chief Minister who performed several ‘yagams’ including the “Ayutha Maha Chandi Yagam”. He named several irrigation projects in the State and a few districts after gods and goddesses,” he pointed out.

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