Amaravati: Silver lions of Kanakadurga temple chariot missing

Amaravati: Even before the controversy over the burning of chariot in Antarvedi has subsided, another major incident of three silver lions adorning the chariot of Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Devasthanam at Indrakeeladri Kanakadurga temple are missing.

This has once again exposed the chinks in the administration of the Devasthanam and security measures taken up in the temple premises. The opposition parties, including BJP state president Somu Veeraraju who visited the place demanded suspension of Executive Officer.

Minister for Endowments Vellampalli Srinivas Rao, who was non-committal over the Opposition's demand, said the probe has been ordered into it. But he also said while CCTV footage could throw light, the problem is that it does not have the capacity to store data for more than 15 days. The temple has 130 CCTV cameras. The temple authorities will submit a report in a couple of months, he said.

What was more surprising was that the EO first told the Opposition leaders that there was a possibility of the lions having been kept in the locker. While three had gone missing, another lion had a part of it stolen by removing it by using a cutting machine. If the lions were in locker all four should have been kept in the locker. Such explanations raised more doubts.

The issue came to light after the temple authorities were trying to enhance the security of the chariot in the wake of the Antarvedi blaze incident. Opposition parties say that this shows the negligence on the part of authorities. They did not even know that the lions had gone missing and the big question is when did the theft took place. The chariot is under the supervision of the security wing.

The chariot was last used on Ugadi day in April 2019. The present EO was appointed on August 22, 2019 after Ugadi procession and since then the chariot has been idle, the temple authorities said. What has also miffed the opposition is that the temple officials have not filed a police complaint even after the theft was noticed.