Transition through an old-timer’s eyes

Saroja Lakshmi Narayanan (an 88-yr-old devotee), whose family has been in the service of Lord Ahobilesa for the last 57 years now, narrates her experiences surrounding the transition of Ahobilam over the last 5 decades.

“Ahobilam in those days was very difficult to reach with absolutely no roads and very little transportation.

With wild animals including tigers wandering around freely all along the route from Allagadda to Ahobilam, very few people used to visit Ahobilam in those days. When my husband R. Lakshmi Narayanan was appointed as Manager at the Sri Ahobilam temple, the income of the temple was around `8,000 per annum with very few devotees visiting the shrine. And very limited number of festivals used to be observed at Ahobilam those days.

“My husband who acted as a link between the state government and the Ahobila Mutt was instrumental in bringing about better infrastructure at Ahobilam which included improved road connectivity, electricity, renovation of the Rajagopurams of the Lower and Upper Ahobilam temples, construction of pedestrian steps to Upper Ahobilam, bringing in road connectivity from Lower Ahobilam to Upper Ahobilam temple, etc.

“With better infrastructure in place at Ahobilam than before, the pilgrim crowds began to swell over the years. And with the help of several ardent

Ahobilam used to be difficult to reach earlier as there were no roads and little transportation. devotees of Lord Ahobilesa along with the support of some philanthropists, my husband introduced several new festivals at the Ahobilam temple which added to devotee attraction who were drawn to the pomp and gaiety at the ancient shrine.”

“But I fondly remember that getting decent food and accommodation was still a major concern for the devotees including VIPs visiting Ahobilam shrine as there were hardly any restaurants at this pilgrim shrine. And to overcome this concern of the devout, we personally took care of the hospitality needs of the pilgrims, the government officials as well as the VIPs. We even used to accommodate devotees and cook food for them at our home itself, to ensure that not a single devotee on a pilgrimage to Ahobilam was left hungry,” she adds.

“Several VIPs including former President of India Sri Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy who was also the Chairman of the renovation committee of Ahobilam, T.T. Krishnamachary, former Speaker of Lok Sabha, former Prime Minister Sri P.V. Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister Sri H.D. Deve Gowda and many others from diverse fields who came to Ahobilam have been our guests,” she added.