Amidst an ongoing controversy over an alleged spate of attacks on Hindu places of worship in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday laid the foundation for the reconstruction of nine temples in Vijayawada. The nine temples had allegedly been demolished during the tenure of the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government, along with several other temples in the city.
According to reports, around 30 temples in Vijayawada had been demolished back in 2016, as part of road widening work taken up during the Krishna Pushkaralu river festival, in anticipation of a massive number of pilgrims visiting the city. More than a year ago, the state Endowments Minister had announced that the YSRCP government would identify and reconstruct around 29 such temples which were torn down under the TDP government.
The ‘bhumi pooja’ or foundation stone laying ceremony by CM Jagan for nine temples comes at a time when the YSRCP government is being accused by opposition parties like the TDP, BJP and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP), of failing to prevent attacks on Hindu temples.
The campaign by opposition parties had first begun when the Antarvedi temple chariot in East Godavari was gutted in a fire in September last year, following which several incidents of theft and desecration of temple idols were reported. However, the state police had said that these were isolated and not part of a larger conspiracy. Recently, the vandalisation of a Lord Rama idol at a temple near Ramatheertham village of Vizianagaram district has again given momentum to similar allegations by the opposition.
YSRCP leaders however, have alleged that the TDP was behind the Ramatheertham incident, in an attempt to malign their government. TDP leader and former Union Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju was even removed from the post of Chairman of the temple for failing to prevent the incident.
Apart from the reconstruction of the nine temples, CM Jagan also laid the foundation stone for development works worth Rs 77 crore at the Vijayawada Kanaka Durga temple, one of the most prominent temples in the state after the Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala.
The temples being reconstructed in Vijayawada, at a total cost of around Rs 3.8 crore, are the Rahu-Kethu temple, Sri Anjaneyaswamy temple (on the way to Kanaka Durga temple), Sri Seethamma Vari Paadaalu, Dakshinamukha Anjaneyaswamy temple, Saneeswara Swamy temple, Sri Dasanjaneya Swamy Vaari temple, Boddu Bomma, Sri Veera Babu Swamy temple (near Police Control Room), and the Venu Gopala Krishna Temple.