Nellore: Ranganatha Swamy temple development remains only on paper

Nellore: The upgradation of Sri Talpagiri Ranganatha Swamy temple located in Nellore city from grade-1 to Assistant Commissioner (AC) cadre still remains on paper.

As per the new GO issued by the government, annual income of the temple for upgradation from Grade-1 to AC cadre status should be between Rs 2 crore to Rs 7 crore as against Rs 15 lakh to 50 lakh earlier. Though the Talpagiri Ranganatha Swamy temple income has crossed Rs 3.5 crore per year, surprisingly it has not been included in the list of temples to be upgraded.

It may be recalled that the Central government recently listed Sri Vedagiri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple located at Devarapalem village in Nellore rural mandal under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) scheme meant for the development of the temple by providing infrastructure facilities following the initiative taken by former Vice-President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu.

But having an ancient history of over seven decades, Sri Talpagiri Ranganatha Swamy temple is still lagging behind in development. The local people blame the ruling party representatives for not taking any initiative for the development of the historic temple.

Government recently announced upgradation of as many as 19 temples which have crossed an annual income of Rs 1.5 crore like Veereswara Swamy Devasthanam (I Polavaram), Vigneswara Swamy temple (Ayinavilli), Bheemeswara Swamy temple (Draksharamam), Kukkuteswara Swamy temple (Pithapuram), Kotasathemma temple (Nidavolu), Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy temple (Palakollu), Konda Lakshmi temple (Gudlavalleru), Amara Lingeswara Swamy temple (Amaravati), Sahasra Lingeswara Swamy (Ponnuru), Nidanampati Lakshmi Ammavaru (Adigoppula), Vengamamba Parentalu (Duthuluru of Nellore district), Chengala Parameswari Ammavaru (Sulurpet), Prasanna Chennakesava Swamy and Valluramma (Ongole), Veerabhadra Swamy and Polathala Malleswara Swamy (Rayachoti), Choudeswari Ammavaru (Nandavaram), Ardhagiri Verranjaneya Swamy (Aragonda) and Thataiahgunta Gangamma (Tirupati).

When contacted by The Hans India, temple Grade-1 Executive officer D Venkateswara Rao said that it is meaningless to blame the temple administration as the government already has information on the income of the temple. "Recently I have submitted a report to the government that the temple income has reached Rs 3.5 crore. I hope the government would consider this Sri Talpagiri Ranganatha Swamy temple also for upgradation to the Assistant Commissioner cadre,” he said. The Talpagiri Ranganatha Swamy temple is situated on the southern banks of River Pennar river and is known as Uttara Srirangam.

Tourists from different parts of the two Telugu speaking States, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states visit the temple in big numbers every day to have darshan of the Lord.

According to the historians, this ancient temple was built way back in the 12th century by Rajaraja Narendra of the Chola empire.

Similar to the Srirangam temple in Tamil Nadu, the presiding deity (Mulavarlu) Ranganatha Swamy gives darshan to devotees in reclining posture. The deity also faces west unlike any other temples.