‘Dwajastambham’ crashes

Pithapuram: The collapse of 200-year old ‘Dhwajastambham’ of Kunthimadhav Swamy Temple collapsed here on Wednesday brought to the fore the callouse attitude of the Endowments department officials.

The temple had been in a dilapidated condition for some timebut no steps had been taken to prevent such incidents.

However, no devotee was
injured when the incident
happened as there were few devotes present in the temple.

The news of collapse of Dhwajastambam shocked the devotees who view it as a bad omen. Had the department officials acted in time, the collapse of Dhwajastambam could have been avoided, said the disappointed devotees.

The incident has occurred with just four days to go for the beginning of Kalyanotsavam. The famous temple is considered to be one of the holiest Madhava shrines in the country.

The temple officials removed the collapsed Dwajasthambam and kept it aside. The temple priests said that they had noticed the holy structure in the crumbling stage and attributed it to the phased erection of Dhwajastambham.

Temple officials told The Hans India that they brought the incident to the notice of local MLA N V S Varma, who assured them that the Dhwajastambham would be replaced after Kalyanotsavam.

The temple’s committee has made all the necessary arrangement to conduct Kalyanotsavam from February 5 to 12.However, doubts are cast in the minds of devotees over the conduct of the event in the absence of Dhwajastambham.