Yadagirigutta: Dhoopa Deepa Naivedyam scheme extended to another 2,043 temples

Yadagirigutta: The Spiritual Day celebration was grandly organised in all the temples in erstwhile Nalgonda on Wednesday, as part of decennial celebrations of State formation.

Endowments Minister Indrakaran Reddy and Energy Minister Jagdish Reddy participated in the Spiritual Day celebrations organised under the auspices of the Department of endowments at Yadagirigutta Vrata Mandapam in Yadadri-Bhongir district.

Speaking on occasion, the Minister said Dhupa Deepa Naivedya scheme was launched for new 2,043 temples across the State. The priests were given the appointment papers for incense offerings.

He said that one can easily assess the situation before and after formation of Telangana State. He said that the Telangana region had been spiritually neglected in the united Andhra Pradhesh. While the Dhupa Deepa Naivedya scheme was implemented in only 1,805 temples in the united AP, CM KCR extended it to 6,641 temples.

With this, there will be a lot of growth in the way of life of the priests, he explained. He said CM KCR decided to increase the salaries of priests from Rs.6,000 to Rs10,000 through Dhupa Deepa Naivedya scheme.

Yadagirigutta Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple, which is known as one of the oldest shrines in the country, has been reconstructed at a cost of around Rs1,200 crore. He said that VTDA has acquired 35 acres for the expansion of Vemulawada Sri Rajarajeswara Swamy Temple, which is emerging as the capital of South Kashi.

Minister Jagdish Reddy said that few people are sitting in the AC room and questioning where the development has taken place. He said that wherever the development has taken place and wherever the welfare schemes are being implemented, the decennial celebrations are being held grandly in the presence of the people.

He questioned that the development in the last nine years is not visible to the eyes of the opposition.CM KCR has given high priority to spiritual development along with development and welfare schemes and respects all religions equally.

Earlier, the Ministers laid the foundation stone for the Vedic school to be built at a cost of Rs12 crore in Yadagirigutta-Rayagiri. He inaugurated Annadana Satra, the Kalyana Mandapam built near the Presidential Suite.

Commissioner of Endowments Department Anil Kumar, Collector Pamela Satpathy, MLAs Pailla Shekhar Reddy, Gongidi Sunitha Reddy, Rajya Sabha member Badugula Lingaiah Yadav, ZP Chairman Sandeep Reddy, officials and people’s representatives participated in this event.