Hyderabad: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who recently unveiled plans to set up state-of-the-art gaushalas (cow shelters) in Telangana, has turned his attention to redeveloping temples, beginning with one in his constituency, Kodangal.
The move, while catering to the Congress chief minister’s constituents, is also being seen as part of Revanth’s strategy to expand his base among the majority Hindu population in the southern state, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is posing a challenge.
In his student days, Revanth was associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), aligning him briefly with the Sangh-Hindutva ideology.
Reddy is drawing up plans to revamp the Sri Mahalakshmi Venkateswara Swamy temple, known locally as ‘chinna‘ (mini/second) Tirupati, and is seeking financial aid and other assistance from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the governing body of the famous hill shrine in Andhra Pradesh.
The Kodangal Balaji temple was established by Nandaram Narasimhulu Gupta and other prominent locals in 1970 to provide a Tirupati Balaji-style darshan experience for devotees, especially those who are unable to travel to Tirumala.
In a meeting Tuesday with endowment and Vikarabad district officials, Reddy approved a plan to redevelop the historic temple on six acres in Kodangal on the lines of the Tirupati temple.
The chief minister reviewed the redevelopment designs for the Prakara Mandapam, Mada Veedhulu, Bhu Varaha Swamy temple, Garbhagudi and Maha Mandapam, the components of temple.
“While the present structures are on a two-acre space, we are acquiring two acres and another two acres will be provided by the district collector,” a senior endowment official told ThePrint.
Revanth’s plans to give the Kodangal temple a facelift at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore are modest compared to his predecessor K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s about Rs 1,500-crore upgrade of the Yadagirigutta temple, adjacent to his constituency Gajwel, to turn it into Telangana’s Tirupati.
Telangana officials said they are negotiating with the resource-rich TTD, which operates under the Andhra Pradesh government, over funding and other aspects.
In addition, Reddy has also decided to develop other Hindu shrines in his constituency— the Venkateswara Swamy temple in Daulatabad, and the Shiva and Venugopala Swamy temples in Kosgi—with stone structures in a magnificent manner.
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Blast from the past
The Telangana BJP unit welcomed the chief minister’s plans but also reminded him of his election-year assurance over a proposal to build 100 Rama temples across the state.
Addressing a Congress party rally in February 2023 at Bhadrachalam, an Andhra-Telangana border town famous for its ancient Rama temple, then Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Revanth had endorsed a proposal to build 100 Ram temples—one each in the state’s assembly constituencies.
“After assuming power, we will provide development funds for your area. We will also consider the idea of local party leaders to build a Ram temple in 100 constituencies with Rs 10 crore each and a total of Rs 1,000 crore, on the lines of the great Bhadrachalam temple here, to serve as inspiration for every youth,” Revanth told the public meeting, which was part of his Hath Se Hath Jodo Yatra, an extension of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The BJP, which had then termed Revanth’s endorsement of Lord Ram as an election-time gimmick “playing with the sentiments of Hindus,” is now reminding him of his statement.
“If he wants to develop temples, we will, of course, welcome it. As the government head, it is his duty to do so, especially preserving, maintaining the temples run by the state administration. But what happened to his assurance on building Rama temples?” BJP chief spokesperson N.V. Subhash told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, Telangana’s new cow protection policy is expected to go before the cabinet soon. Following Revanth’s instructions after the alarming number of bovine deaths at the Vemulawada temple in May-June, officials have formulated a comprehensive welfare policy for cattle, especially cows, in the state.
Under the policy, four modern gaushalas will be set up in Rajendranagar, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, Vemulawada, Yadagirigutta and Moinabad, each spread over 50 to 100 acres.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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