SriKalahasti: All is not well with the administration of the world-renowned Shaivate shrine at Srikalahasti, in Chittoor district. The famous shrine, revered as Dakshina Kasi by millions of devotees across the globe, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last few years.
The ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, in the form of Vayu Lingam, is part of Pancha Bootha Kshetras celebrating the Lord as the embodiment of the five primary elements for the very existence of life on earth — air, water, fire, earth and space.
Each passing year has seen more and more devotees arriving at Srikalahasti and the revenues of the temple too have taken a big leap over the years.
However, the temple administration, instead of ensuring that the revenues are used for the creation of better amenities seems to have done otherwise.
Despite a crore of devotees visiting the temple over the last one year and the temple reportedly netting an income of around Rs 75 crores, little has been done to improve the amenities.
While a major portion of the revenue is spent in the making of the serpent-shaped tiny silver icons, used while conducting Rahu-Kethu Sarpadosha Nivarana pujas, there have been several alleged irregularities right from the quality of silver purchased, re-circulation of tickets, procurement of poor quality puja materials at very high prices etc.
There have been allegations that the temple administration has turned a blind eye to the system of accommodation provided at the amenities complexes, indirectly helping the private hoteliers.
The poor amenities at the VIP alighting point at Srikalahasti, is a classic example of the utter negligence. It is learnt that the sorry state of affairs, owing to graft at the temple, is reaching new hei-ghts, and has drawn the attention of the AP Endowments department, which has begun the cleansing process.
