Pushkaralu: Telangana temples get richer

Hyderabad: The just concluded Godavari Maha Pushkaralu has made temples in Telangana richer by crores of rupees. According to initial estimates, Bhadrachalam temple earned the highest revenue of Rs 5 crore during Pushkaralu from July 14 to 25 followed by Dharmapuri temple Rs 3 crore and Basar Rs 1 crore.

Addressing a press conference in the Secretariat, the endowments minister, A. Indrakaran Reddy said the first Pushkaralu in TS brought to light the historical significance of temples, which were grossly neglected in undivided AP.

“Because TS was formed and Telangana government headed by K. Chandrasekhar Rao is there, we could conduct Godavari Pushkaralu like Kumbh Mela successfully, which was never heard of in TS. Earlier, Godavari Pushkaralu meant only Rajahmundry or Vijayawada in undivided AP. But now over 6.20 crore pilgrims from across the globe took the holy dip in TS, which is nearly two crore more than AP, due to elaborate arrangements made by TS government, which reflects how TS was neglected in united AP,” Mr Reddy said.  

He said the successful and peaceful conduct of Godavari Pushkaralu in TS was a major milestone and taking inspiration from this the government would make foolproof arrangements for the ensuing Krishna Pushkaralu next year. Mr Reddy said the counting of hundi collections in all the major temples has started and would end in a week.

Bhadrachalam temple normally earns a revenue of Rs 16 crore per year. But the temple has earned Rs 5 crore in 12 days during Pushkaralu.

Dharmapuri Laxminarasimha Swamy temple has been estimated to earn nearly Rs 3 crore. Kaleshwaram temple is also estimated to have earned Rs 2.70 crore. Basar Saraswathi temple is estimated to have earned Rs 1.20 crore.