The temple of Lord Venkateswara, built by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on 10 acres of land atop a hill, near Rushikonda, is likely to be inaugurated by March-end. This decision is said to have been taken during Chief Minister Y.S/ Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit to Visakha Sri Sarada Peetham recently.
The temple was supposed to be opened by the Chief Minister on August 13, 2021. The undue delay even after completion of construction of the temple and laying of the road to the hill top is drawing criticism not only from the Opposition parties but also from the public.
BJP State vice president P. Vishnu Kumar Raju and other party leaders made no secret of their displeasure over the undue delay in the inauguration of the temple. They expressed the view that, perhaps, the Chief Minister has no time for Lord Venkateswara Swamy.
Telugu Desam Party(TDP) senior leaders Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, Palla Srinivas and others also expressed similar views. Jana Sena Party (JSP) leaders Siva Sankara Rao and Bolisetty Satyanarayana ridiculed that the Chief Minister has time to pay visit to spiritual gurus but has no time to declare open the temple.
Spiritual leaders felt that it was wrong to leave the idol without ‘dhoopa, deepa, naivedyam’ after the temple construction was completed.
It was announced during the first week of August, 2021, that special pujas, including ‘maha samprokshanam’, will be performed at the temple complex from August 8 to 13 by the priests from Tirumala and the temple would be opened for darshan from August 13.
The temple, constructed at an estimated cost of ₹28 crore, is located on a hill near the Gayatri Vidya Parishad (GVP) College at Rushikonda. The view from atop the hill offers a breathtaking view of the Bay of Bengal.
It was planned to conduct all the rituals at the Rushikonda temple on the lines of those performed at Tirumala. Though the Chief Minister came to the city on a couple of occasions, he did not inaugurate it and the YSR Congress Party leaders gave varied reasons for the same.
“The Chief Minister is expected to inaugurate the temple during March,” Tourism Minister M. Srinivasa Rao told The Hindu on Tuesday. He, however, declined to give more details, saying that the TTD was looking into it.
“Steps, being constructed to the hill top are nearing completion and an approach road and lawns are being constructed to the staff quarters, built a little away from the temple. The temple is complete in all respects to enable devotees to reach the temple,” said an official, who did not want to be named.
