Hyderabad: The TS government wants the Centre to develop four temple towns in erstwhile Karimnagar district under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme.
TRS Deputy Floor leader B. Vinod Kumar met Union minister of state for tourism Mahesh Sharma in New Delhi and requested him to include the age-old Vemulawada Raja Rajeswara Swamy temple, Dharmapuri Laxminarasimha Swamy temple, Kondagattu Hanuman temple, and Kaleshwaram temple in the scheme.
PRASAD was launched two years ago to identify and develop pilgrimage tourist destinations on the principles of high tourist visits, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner to enrich religious and spiritual tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities.
The ministry provides financial assistance to states for various tourism projects and has identified 12 sites in the country. However, none from TS figure in the list.
The 12 cities are Amaravati (AP), Gaya (Bihar), Dwaraka (Gujarat), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Kancheepuram and Vellankani (both Tamil Nadu), Puri (Odisha), Varanasi and Mathura (both Uttar Pradesh), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) and Kamakhya (Assam).
Mr Kumar informed the Union tourism minister that though the TRS government has taken up several developmental works, the Centre’s support would further develop the famed temples and increase religious tourism.
