Kakinada: 6 hurt as Dwajasthambam collapses during installation

Kakinada: As many as six devotees sustained injuries when the dwajasthambam collapsed during installation on Friday at Sri Neelakanteshwara temple in Neelapalli village of Tallarevu mandal in Kakinada district.

The injured were shifted to hospital. There was no loss of life.

According to locals, the 300-year-old Siva temple is in dilapidated condition and the temple authorities have embarked on renovation. The ceremony of re-installation conducted on Friday.

As it happens to be an ancient and very famous temple, thousands of devotees participated in the programme. Visakha Sarada Peetha Uttaradhikari Swatmanandendra also attended the installation programme at 11.16 am on the day. He conducted special puja on this sacred occasion and left the temple at 12 noon. The incident happened at 1.30 pm.

Some people attributed the collapse of the dwajasthambam to bad muhurtam and for not conducting the programme as per the traditional norms.