Telangana CM Chandrasekhar Rao likely to visit Sri Rajarajeswara Swamy temple
Karimnagar: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to visit the ancient temple of Sri Rajarajeswara Swamy in Vemulawada on April 29. Superintendent of Police V. Shiva Kumar, along with Sircilla RDO Biksha Naik, inspected the premises of the temple on Thursday. The temple authorities prepared a comprehensive plan, including steps to be taken to develop the shrine and its facilities at an estimated cost of Rs 250 crore.
The management of the temple said the chief minister was keen on improving the historic temple, considering its prominence and strengths. The Chief Minister laid special focus on the temple following Vemulawada MLA Ch. Ramesh Babu calling on him in Hyderabad.
“Probably, he will visit the shrine on April 29. The visit may be postponed if he is busy with official programmes on that day,” stated a senior official of the temple.
On April 8, Soundarya Rajan Stapathi, who proposed a new design of the Sri Laxminarasimha Swamy temple at Yadagirigutta in Nalgonda, came to Vemulawada to assess the scope to give a faceflift to the shrine, considered as Southern Varanasi.
Revenue officials have begun identifying lands owned by the shrine. According to the proposal being readied to submit to the Chief Minister, some of the structures that need to be built are a venue for celestial weddings of Lord Siva and Parvati, Rama and Seeta at an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore, Rs 80 crore required to purchase private lands for various needs of the temple.
Similarly, Rs 60 crore would be sought for building a spiritual park. Grants are being requested for building additional choultries and for establishing a vedic-vaastu-music-classical dance institution in the temple town. Several basic amenities would be improved with the help of the funds sought in the proposal.
The ancient temple registers around Rs 50 crore income every year. Over 3 lakh devotees and pilgrims from various parts of India throng the temple in any given month. In particular, over 4 lakh pilgrims visit the temple during the three-day annual Maha Sivaratri festivities. Around 1.5 lakh devotees witness the celestial wedding of Lord Rama and Seeta, every year.
