Temple Panel Missing in Probe Into Rs 70-Lakh Crown
His inquiries revealed that the crown had been mortgaged by temple committee members for ₹38 lakh.
Vijayawada: Managing committee members of the privately owned Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Gudivada of Krishna district have been found missing when Krishna district Endowments assistant commissioner K. Lalitha reached the shrine on Thursday to inquire about the presiding deity’s ₹70-lakh worth diamond-studded golden crown going missing.
Devotee Maturi Subba Rao had donated the crown on January 6, 2025 to the Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy Temple for adorning the head of the deity. The crown had been made using 461 grams of gold and precious stones, including diamonds.
During his subsequent visits, Subba Rao realised that temple authorities had not been adorning the presiding deity with the crown. His inquiries revealed that the crown had been mortgaged by temple committee members for ₹38 lakh.
When the entire issue appeared in media, the state government ordered district Endowment authorities to inquire into the incident, following which assistant commissioner Lalitha reached the temple on Thursday for an inquiry.
She wrote to the 30-member management committee led by its president Koduri Mohan Rao and other members about her visit to the temple on Thursday for an inquiry. However, no committee member had been present, including president Mohan Rao.
The endowments commissioner then contacted some third party sources, who reiterated that Mohan Rao had mortgaged the crown with a private pawn broker and collected ₹38 lakh. It is alleged that the temple committee president did not inform any other committee member about the mortgage. It is not known where the money had gone and for what purpose.
There is another report circulating that Mohan Rao and two other committee members are involved in mortgaging the crown for money.
When contacted, the Krishna district Endowments assistant commissioner said, “Based on the direction from the government to conduct a preliminary inquiry in the temple on the missing golden crown, I intimated the management committee members on Wednesday about my visit to the temple on Thursday to collect details in the matter. But no committee member turned up at the temple. Members did not even respond to my phone calls. I managed to get some information through third party sources. I will submit a report to the government accordingly.”
