TELANGANA TO GET ITS OWN TIRUMALA
PLAN State allocates ₹1,800 cr for Yadadri’s makeover, a brainchild of chief minister KCR
HYDERABAD: A little-known cave shrine tucked awayin the scenic hills outside Hyderabad is undergoing a lavish governmentfunded makeover tore ali se Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s dream of matching India’s richest temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirumala.
The Telangana government has allocated ₹1,800 crore to develop Yadadri, a centuries-old hill temple dedicated to the Hindu lion-god Narasimha, ringed by eight other hills and lush forests.
ON THE AGENDA
A sprawling 11- acre temple complex that will consist of seven temple domes, including a 100foot main dome, a 1,400 acre tourist facilities comprising cottages, multilevel parking, and housing for the temple priests.
The government has already created a special-purpose body for developing Yadadri that has employed more than 500 sculptors, and the first phase of construction is expected to finish by May 2018. The surrounding hills are being developed rapidly and four-lane roads constructed for smoother connectivity.
“Once the project is completed, Yadadri is going to be as big as Tirumala, with even better facilities,” G Kishan Rao, vice-chairman and managing director of Yadadri Temple Development Authority( YT DA ), told HT. Construction is likely to be completed by 2019. Observers say the idea of having a Tirumala-like temple in Te lang ana is the brain child of the chief minister, who has had a running rivalry with AP on several fronts since the two states were created in 2014.
“People of Telangana believe Lord Narasimha is most powerful, who wards off evil spirits and cures psychological disorders. They even believe that they could get cured of physical ailments. That is why the CM felt the need to develop Yadadri into a globally-known shrine,” Rao added.
After construction is complete, the footfall is expected to triple from 10,000 to 30,000 a day and the income zoom from an average of ₹80 crore per year to ₹200 cr per year, temple authorities say.
“No mortar or bricks are being used in the construction. As per the temple architecture of the K aka ti ya ruler soft he Te lang ana region, only black granite stone is being used ,” K is han Ra os aid .“A giri pradakshana, a 2.7 km road has been developed for the devotees to circumambulate the hillock as a ritual.” But even then,
Yadadri would find it difficult to match Ti rum ala that clocks revenues up wards of ₹2,600 crore.
Nevertheless, the government believes the temple would spark an economic boom in the area.
But the opposition says the government is borrowing huge sums from funding agencies and financial institutions for development works like irrigation and power projects, and wasting money on projects such as Ya dadri. “A secular government can support religious activities, but cannot construct temples at
the public expense. The money can be better utilised for poverty alleviation programmes ,” Tel angana Congress secretary Dasoju Sravan told HT.
The plan to transform the ancient temple began in February 2015. The surrounding seven villages were brought under the YTDA and the authorities removed all encroachments. The main temple was closed in April last year and a temporary structure was built to conduct regular rituals for the presiding deity.