Hyderabad: Setting his focus back on development of Hindu shrines, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) visited the revered Kondagattu hill temple in Jagtial district and announced that his government was ready to spend Rs 1,000 crore on its renovation.
“There is no dearth of funds. Can allot as much as Rs 1,000 crore for the project,” KCR said Wednesday, according to a statement from his office.
This will be the second important temple project after Yadagirigutta whose progress will be personally monitored by the chief minister. KCR’s major fund allotment for the temple revamp comes at a time when Telangana is gearing up for the assembly polls towards the end of the year. KCR has been in power since 2014, ever since Telangana was carved out from Andhra Pradesh.
The move, political analysts explain, would help KCR counter the BJP’s aggressive Hindutva push to gain power in the state.
“There are a lot of equations to it. This will help him to counter BJP’s Hindutva agenda. He had always maintained a stand that he is a ‘bigger’ Hindu than them (BJP). When the BJP is constantly trying to project that it’s the only party working for Hindus in the state, such a move will counter that easily,” Telakapalli Ravi, a political expert, said.
“If we’re expecting to make the temple that attracts devotees from across the country, the facilities should match the same. While the Rs 1,000 crore is expected to cover all of this, 50 per cent of it will be used solely for temple renovation. The chief minister is also ready to allot more, if needed,” an official close to the CM told ThePrint.
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‘Temple politics’
KCR is definitely not the first leader to have thought or spoken about Kondagattu temple’s development. In 2019, Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay said the temple would be developed with the central government’s funds. Last month, Sanjay visited the temple and spoke about how the BJP was ready for early polls in the state.
The BJP in the past targeted KCR for maintaining close ties with Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), with the narrative that the ruling party does not care for the Hindus.
The Kondagattu temple recently got more limelight when actor-turned politician Pawan Kalyan last month visited and performed “puja” before launching his special election campaign vehicle “Varahi.”
Telakapalli Ravi explained that KCR’s revamp project also has political and economic factors as well. “The land value will shoot up; tourists will benefit. All this adds up. Even when we speak about Yadadri (temple town) development, it can be said that such a massive revamp of any temple had never happened in the past, especially a CM taking interest and developing it,” he added.
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KCR’s other temple projects
Situated atop Kondagattu hill, and surrounded by hills and forest area, Anjaneya Swamy (Hanuman) temple is more than five centuries old, making it an ancient structure in the state. Being one of the most significant temples in Telangana, it has a lot of belief attached to it and attracts tourists from neighbouring states.
The chief minister, over the past few years, took interest and got the Yadagirigutta temple renovated. The temple, in Yadadri district, was KCR’s pet project, and renovation of the temple town cost a whopping Rs 1,200 crore.
The temple, which the CM aimed to make Telangana’s Tirumala, was inaugurated in March last year. This massive renovation project shot up the real estate prices in the area.
His focus on Kondagattu temple, makes it his second such project. On Wednesday, KCR inspected the temple premises and held meetings with architects, temple priests and his party’s elected representatives from the region. It was decided that the inner shrine, which has the deity of Anjaneya (Hanuman), would not be disturbed while the remaining area would be revamped.
The temple, as of now, is spread across 0.4 acre of land, but will be expanded to 4 acre, chief architect Anand Sai told ThePrint
Sai was also the chief architect for the Yadagirigutta temple project.
“Just like Yadadri (Yadagirigutta) temple, the focus here will be also completely on revamping the area. The money is not just for the temple, but there will also be cottages for visitors, roads, food counters, shelter for pilgrims, VVIP suites, parking facilities, water tankers. For instance, we’re planning to construct a 40,000 sq ft Kalyana Mantapa near the temple premises,” he said.
“The idea is that the inner temple premises should accommodate 30,000 people because that is the footfall during Hanuman Jayanthi or Deeksha period.”
KCR noted that the construction should be such that post renovation, the temple should attract pilgrims from across the country on Hanuman Jayanthi, the CMO statement said.
The project is not just rebuilding of the temple, but also focuses on establishing an electricity sub-station, bus stands, medical centre, police station, among others.
Meanwhile, the concerns about road safety have cropped up around the area, especially after accidents being reported from the place. The most recent accident was on Wednesday, where a TSRTC bus conductor died, and five others injured near Kondagattu. Four years ago, another accident near Kondagattu Ghat road claimed 65 lives.
In December, Bandi Sanjay had attacked the CM saying that he lacked empathy and that the accident victims were forgotten. “There are no safety measures put in place in the area,” the BJP leader said.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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