KCR ready to spend Rs 1,000 crore to develop Kondagattu temple

Hyderabad, Feb 15 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said on Wednesday that his government is ready to allocate Rs 1,000 crore to renovate and develop Kondagattu Anjaneya Swamy Temple as the most popular and greatest holy place among all Hanuman shrines in the country.

He said after the Yadagirigutta Lakshmi Narasimha Swami temple, the Kondagattu Anjaneya temple will be promoted as a magnificent spiritual destination to enrich India's spiritual glory.

He made the announcement during a visit to the temple in Jagtial district and held a review meeting.

After reaching the Kondagattu area, he thoroughly inspected the surrounding areas of the temple through an aerial view and then, performed a special puja. He along with public representatives and officials went around the temple surroundings on foot. Later, he held a high level meeting with ministers and top officials.

KCR suggested that the development and expansion of the temple should be taken up in about 750-800 acres.

Hanuman devotees from different states including Telangana come here and practice Hanuman Deeksha. Large scale recitation of the Akhanda Hanuman Chalisa, Abhishekam and pooja programmes are also performed. He directed officials to build a spacious hall to accommodate 50,000 people.

The CM said that the reconstruction and development of the temple will be undertaken following the Vaishnava tradition. There is no dearth of funds for the restoration of Anjaneya Swamy and the government is ready to allocate Rs 1,000 crore, he said.

As it is estimated that 10 lakh devotees will visit on Hanuman Jayanti in the future, KCR asked officials to provide facilities accordingly. He said that a specious facility should be developed where 50,000 devotees in deeksha perform puja at one go.

Officials and priests explained to KCR that about 20,000 devotees visit Anjaneya Swamy on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday and 2,000 to 3,000 devotees visit on other days. The Chief Minister said that after the restoration of the temple, this number will increase to three or four times and the Yadagiri Gutta shrine is proof of that.

"Among all the holy places in Telangana, the Kondagattu temple is blessed with abundant forest wealth and natural beauty. Diseases can be cured by drinking the water here. This forest is the lifeline to the temple. Let us not touch this forest. Don't bother others. The Kondagattu Anjanna Sanctuary area will be converted like the Bandipur Sanctuary in the Nilgiri hills on the Mysore-Ooty road," he said.