Nandivelugu ( Guntur dist): The locals of Nandivelugu village on the Guntur-Tenali Road are seeking development of tourism making good use of Nandisagar pond, the ancient Agasteswara temple, light emitting Nandi (the bull of Shiva) and 100-year-old Mughal architecture heritage bungalow in the village.
The locals are lamenting that the government gives Nandi awards but did not show interest to develop their historical and ancient Nandivelugu. The Nandisagar pond with the statue of Nandi situated in the middle of the pond is the main attraction beside the main road, but it is failing to attract the public, mainly tourists due to lack of basic amenities.
The slab of the ancient Agasteswara temple was constructed with stone blocks and still the temple is very strong without any damages. Priest M. Mohan Sastry said that Nandivelugu is one for Shaiva centres where Agastya Mahamuni (sage) visited and constructed a temple. But later, the temple was damaged due to the increase of forest as a result of absence of the residential areas.
Later, the Chalukya dynasty came to power and King Vishnuvardhana renovated the temple. He put diamonds in the belly of Vinayaka idol and in the horns of Nandi idol. The light of Vinayaka idol falls on the horns of the Nandi and further the spectacular lighting falls on the feet of Shiva during Nityarchana (daily worship). But later, thieves robbed the diamonds by damaging Vinayaka and Nandi idols. Thus, the name Nandivelugu (light of the bull) was given to the village in the ancient times.
The locals, M. Raghava and others said that Nandivelugu is the only village in the name of a bull in AP and the state government gives Nandi awards, but Nandivelugu was neglected. They said that recently the village panchayat renovated the ponds and installed a big Nandi statue in its middle and provided benches. But the pond is becoming murky due to throwing of waste in it by passersby.
