VIJAYAWADA: Union minister for tourism and culture G. Kishan Reddy had a darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga at the temple, where he offered special prayers.
Minister for endowments Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao welcomed him while officials offered ‘teertha prasadams’.
Later, he said that he had sought the blessings of Lord Venkateswara on Wednesday and that of Goddess Kanaka Durga on Thursday.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s determination to safeguard the country’s culture and traditions, he said that Veerabhadra temple in Warangal was declared a Unesco heritage centre and assured to develop historically and culturally significant places in AP in the coming days with CSR funds from public and private institutions.
Admitting that the tourism sector was badly hit in the last two years due to Covid, Reddy assured all efforts to revive it once the pandemic subsides. He assured to promote historically significant structures under Bharat Darshan programme to help people realise their importance.
He said that he would make all efforts to promote tourism in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State and develop Durga temple as a major tourist spot.
Meanwhile, Kishan Reddy suffered a minor injury on his forehead when he banged against the car door when he was getting in.
Later, he called on Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at his camp office in Tadepalli. The Chief Minister and his wife Bharathi presented Kishan Reddy and his wife an idol of Lord Venkateswara.
Earlier, when the Union minister arrived at the Vijayawada airport by a special flight from Tirupati, senior BJP leaders, including Madhav, Kanna Lakshminarayana and others, received him.
