After more than five years of renovation and reconstruction, Telangana's Yadadri temple, which has been expanded from a small hill shrine into a sprawling pilgrimage centre, was inaugurated by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the midst of elaborate rituals involving scores of priests on Monday, March 28. Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, popularly known as Yadadri temple and located about 60 km from Hyderabad in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, has been developed in line with Chief Minister KCR’s vision. Yadadri is being built at an estimated cost of around Rs 1,200 crore
The mega project was taken up with an initial budget of nearly Rs 2,000 crore and works were launched on October 11, 2016. After roping in multiple agencies for more than five years, the temple was finally re-opened for devotees on Monday, March 28, while the other works around it are yet to be completed.
Accompanied by his wife Shoba Rao, other family members, host of cabinet ministers, TRS leaders and officials, KCR participated in the 'Mahakumbha Samprokshana' ritual. He performed ‘kalasha pujas’ and participated in the procession carrying the presiding deity from the ‘balalayam’ to the sanctum sanctorum.
యాదాద్రి ఆలయ మహాకుంభ సంప్రోక్షణ తొలిపూజలో ముఖ్యమంత్రి శ్రీ కె.చంద్రశేఖర్ రావు దంపతులు పాల్గొన్నారు. ఆలయ ప్రధాన అర్చకులు వారికి ఆశీర్వచనం అందించారు. #Yadadri pic.twitter.com/SRKT5pQylO
— Telangana CMO (@TelanganaCMO) March 28, 2022
The renovation of Yadadri temple is part of KCR's efforts to develop physical assets in line with the cultural identity of Telangana. As bifurcation of undivided Andhra Pradesh led to the residuary state keeping most of the major temples, KCR drew an ambitious plan to revamp and renovate 1,000-year-old temple at Yadagirigutta into a temple at par with the Venkateswara temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, which is the world's richest Hindu temple.
Before embarking on the project, KCR renamed Yadagirigutta as Yadadri. He took well-known pontiff Chinna Jeeyar, considered as his spiritual guru, with him on a helicopter survey of the temple and its surroundings. KCR decided to club the neighbouring eight hills to make it a mega centre of pilgrimage. Thus the pilgrimage centre will have nine hills against seven hills of Tirumala.
The government created Yadadri Temple Development Authority (YTDA) to execute the renovation and reconstruction works. In place of conventional materials such as cement, bricks and concrete, authorities have used only lime and mortar for the temple works. Yadadri is said to be the only temple in India which has been built with black stone. About 2.5 lakh tonnes of black stone was sourced from Prakasam and Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh for sculptures and other works.
Every day, about 1,500 workers, including 800 sculptors, from different places including Allagadda, Karimnagar and Tamil Nadu worked to execute the mega project. The temple's chief architect Anand Sai visited several temples across South India before making a final plan. According to him, seven gopurams are inspired by Srirangam temple of Tiruchirapalli.
Gold plating of Vimana Gopuram or the main Gopuram at the temple has been inspired by Tirumala temple. The gold plating of Gopuram, which is an ongoing work, requires 125 kg gold. On an appeal by KCR, corporate houses, businessmen, public representatives and politicians late last year donated nearly 30 kg of gold. KCR had announced the first donation of 1 kg 16 tolas gold to the temple on behalf of his family.
The Rajagopuram or the pyramidal structure at the temple entrance is seven-storey high. It is made of stones weighing 13,000 tonnes. KCR made several trips to Yadadri to review the progress of the renovation works. On many occasions, he suggested change in designs of the beautification works. The COVID-19 pandemic had its impact on the pace of the work and led to the delay of more than two years.
The renovated temple is now a 17-acre, three-storey temple with seven gopurams and sculptures. While the overall project is spread over 2,000 acres, the development has been completed over 250 acres around the hill shrine. The temple complex was earlier spread over just 2,500 square yards. A massive land acquisition drive was carried out for the expansion, wherein several traders lost their shops and also had their houses demolished for the construction of roads and other works.
The expanded and renovated complex can now accommodate one lakh devotees. Authorities expect 8,000 devotees to the temple every day and this number may go up to 40,000 on holidays. According to YTDA officials, about Rs 1,000 crore have so far been spent on the entire project. While nearly Rs 280 crore was spent on temple renovation and reconstruction, the remaining amount went towards land acquisition, road laying and infrastructure development.