TTD takes over Venkateswara temple at Rajam

TIRUPATI: The TTD has taken over Sri Padmavathi Bhudevi Sahita Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Anthakapalli Rajam mandal of Vizianagaram district on Friday. The members of Balaji Trust who were managing the temple administration handed over the documents related to the temple to TTD Executive Officer A V Dharma Reddy who visited the shrine for the takeover ceremony which was held at the anointed auspicious hour between 12.15 pm and 12.30 pm at the shrine which was located on a sprawling 3.5-acre land in the village.

The EO speaking to the media said there were about 60 taken-over temples under the umbrella of TTD at present and Rajam temple will come under the supervision of Deputy EO, Visakhapatnam. He said Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao constructed this temple and was managed by Balaji Trust members through GMR Varalakshmi Foundation. Rao, who decided to hand over the temple to TTD, sent a request which was approved by the TTD Trust Board, Reddy said and added that the TTD will take the support of the Balaji Trust, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, devotees and donors in developing the shrine.

The rituals at the temple will be carried as per the tenets of Pancharatra Agama which is now followed at the shrine, he said adding that the TTD will take up the development of the temple to attract more devotees. He also said the famous Tirumala laddu prasadam will be made available to the devotees at the temple. Answering a question, he said Divya darshan tokens to the devotees going to Tirumala through footpaths will be resumed soon. It may be recalled that the shrine located on Srikakulam road, just 3 km away from Rajam town, was built under the supervision of Tridandi Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamy. The temple construction which began in 2015 was inaugurated in 2018 after the completion of the temple at a cost of about Rs 3 crore.  Balaji Trust members Grandhi Eswar Rao, Grandhi Nelchalam, Grandhi Bhaskar Rao, Kolluru Venkata Nageswara Rao, GMR family members, TTD officials and others were present.