Hyderabad: Arvindji’s father Lakshminivas Ghaneriwal was an MLA from Ramayampet, when Burugula Ramakrishna Rao was Chief Minister of the erstwhile Hyderabad state.
“He was an outspoken person and was with the Congress. Once he applauded when a CPI person spoke well in the Assembly and that did not sit well with the party members. He was very active in all kinds of social work and was a member in 37 committees, but he gradually withdrew from all that,” says Arvindji.
The late CM Marri Channa Reddy would come with his sons to the temple.
One of them, Mr Shashidhar Reddy, would ride on the pony which used to be around.
“Our first President Dr Rajendra Prasad and his sister would visit the temple on their annual sojourns to Hyderabad,” he says.
Arvindji gets requests from leaders who want to be welcomed ceremoniously. But the temple has its policies Arvindji says, “Apart from the President, the Governor and Gaji Swamiji of the Pratiwadi Bhayankar Math of Kanchipuram, no one else is welcomed with the purna kumbh.”
The architectural beauty and the colourful interiors of the temple have to be worked on, but with Rs 45 lakh in the bank, a regular revenue stream and a dedicated family looking after the temple there should not be a problem, provided all the permissions are given and there are no further stumbling blocks.
