A visual treat to devotees

Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Swamy Temple in Manyamkonda in Devarakadra in Mahabubnagar district is getting popular among the devotees with its tagline of 'Telangana Tirupati'.

The legend says that people who could not afford to go to Tirumala Tirupati can worship at Manyamkonda, which would have the same 'punya' and hence the temple is called Telangana Tirupati. Located in a cave on the top of the natural mountains where saints used to do tapasya, Sri Venkateshwara Swamy gave darshan in the form of Adi Sheshavatara. The place was known as Munula Konda as saints did tapasya here but later the name Manyamkonda came into existence. The temple is located about 20 km away from Mahabubnagar town on the way towards Richur. Once the place was in a forest area and with big rocks on the mountain, there are many caves in which the saints used to do tapasya. It is said that the temple was developed by one Alahari family. Once Lord Srinivasa came into the dreams of Alahari Keshavaiah, a native of Alahari near Srirangam and told him that he was on the hills on the banks of Krishna River and asked him to immediately perform daily rituals. Once Keshavaiah was taking a bath in Krishna River he found a statue coming his way. He realised that it was Srinivasa and placed this on Manyamkonda.

The temple got developed with devotees coming from nearby districts and now from different places in the state. The annual Brahmotsavams during the month of February attracts many pilgrims at Manyamkonda. Like Tirumala, there is a ghat road for three kilometres. The caves, the koneru and greenery in the temple premises attracts the pilgrims. Government operates mini buses during the Brahmotsavam for carrying the devotees to the temple.

The temple starts from 6.30 am to 12.30 pm, 1 pm to 2 pm and 3 pm to 8 pm on Sundays to Thursdays. During Fridays and other holidays, the temple would be open at 8.30 am to 12.30 pm, 1 pm to 2 pm and 3 pm to 8 pm. There are eleven rooms maintained by the temple authorities with a nominal cost of Rs 200 per day.

The temple authorities said that a Kalyana Mandapam was constructed recently in the temple premises. The authorities said that Rs 47 lakh were spent for laying of BT Road from Padmavathi Ammavari temple to Manyamkonda temple, Rs 64 lakh were spent for drinking water, Rs 1 crore was spent for second ghat road. The Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy and Excise Minister V Srinivas Goud had laid foundation stone for dormitory with 72 rooms with an estimate of Rs 3.5 Crore, the temple EO P Venkata Chary said. The Telangana State Tourism Corporation Development (TSTDC) has requested the Centre to provide financial assistance of Rs 50 Crore under the PRASAD scheme.