Vijayawada: With the establishment of TTD’s Venkateswara Temple in Amaravati, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asked the public to come forward to serve Lord Venkateswara Swamy as volunteers.
The CM ploughed the land with two cows as part of the Bhookarshna ritual for the construction of Venkateswara Temple on the banks of the Krishna river at Venkatapalem on Thursday in Amaravati. He further performed Beejavapanam rituals by sprinkling Nava Dhanyas amidst chanting of Vedic mantras.
Mr Naidu turned emotional and sentimental during the Bhookarshna ritual. He stated that he was born at the feet of Lord Balaji who had given him a second life after the Alipiri blast incident. He added, “Lord Balaji is my Kula Daivam and the Lord has come to Amaravati to bless us. No one believed that I would be saved during the bomb blast at Alipiri in the year 2003 but Lord Balaji saved me and gave me a second life to serve the public. The government is giving the land free of cost, seeking the blessings of Lord Balaji.”
Mr Naidu claimed that Telugu Desam founder NTR and he used to follow Vedic system in the Balaji Temple and said, “All of us are now witness to the construction of the Lord’s temple which is a good thing for us. With Goddess Durga on one side and Balaji on this side, Amaravati is protected and the state is blessed.”
Mr Naidu said that Amaravati had become the capital for the second time and mentioned that earlier in the 2nd century, Amaravati had flourished as capital, during Satavahana’s regime.
He said the Balaji Temple construction would be completed in two-and-a-half years and stated that Balaji would punish bad persons and would save good people.
TTD chairman P. Sudhakar Yadav, AP legislative Assembly Speaker K. Sivaprasada Rao, ministers P. Narayana, D. Umamaheswara Rao, S. Raghava Rao, S. Chandramohan Reddy, P. Pulla Rao and P. Sunitha, TTD Trust Board members, cine director Mr K Raghavendra Rao, MLAs and officials with the public participated in the programme.
K.e.k. skips Temple event, says he did not get invite
The absence of an invitation to TTD Venkateswara temple foundation-laying programme to deputy chief minister and minister for endowment and revenue K.E. Krishna Murthy has caused flutters. The minister did not attend the temple Bhookarshana and Beejavapanam programme which was held at Venkatapalem in Amaravati on Thursday.
Speaking to the press, he expressed dissatisfaction that while he could handle and manage the revenue department which was full of problems, he could not handle and set right the Endowment Department. He said, “It is better to leave the Endowment Department as nobody can change the officials of the department.”
Mr Krishna Murthy said that some people in TTD were directing the state government and expressed anguish over the absence of an invitation to him despite him being the minister of endowments. He felt that the government might be hamstrung to discipline TTD officials.
He said that there would be a lot of problems to big temples due to the absence of trust boards. Hence he had sent a file seeking approval of a trust board to Srisailam temple three months ago to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, but there was no response. He claimed that the problems that prevailed in the Endowment Department could not be found in other departments and lamented that sometimes he wished to leave the Endowment Department.
