- Tuesday, March 04, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The government of the south-eastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has said that construction of several temples was underway in every district in a bid to protect and propagate Hindu faith.
The new temples will number around 3,000.
Deputy chief minister Kottu Satyanarayana said in a press release on February 28, “To protect and propagate the Hindu faith on a massive scale, construction of Hindu temples in the localities of weaker sections has been initiated.
Satyanarayana, who is also Andhra Pradesh’s endowments minister, said the initiative was launched on the directions of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the chief minister.
SRIVANI (Sri Venkateswara Aalayala Nirmanam) Trust of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which is an independent trust and manages temples, including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh, one of the richest temples in the world, has allocated Rs 10 lakh (£10,065) each for the construction work.
SRIVANI Trust was set up to construct Sri Venkateswara Swamy temples at various locations in India, particularly in areas where people from the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes and other weaker sections, who are more prone to religious conversions, live.
According to the 2011 census, Hindus constitute more than 88 per cent of the population of Andhra Pradesh.
Apart from the starting of construction of 1,330 temples, another 1,465 have also been added to this list. Likewise, on the request of a few state lawmakers, 200 more will be built, the Press Trust of India reported.
The construction of the remaining temples will be done with the cooperation of other voluntary organisations, the deputy chief minister said.
According to him, construction of 978 temples is taking place in full swing under the aegis of the endowments department while the works of every 25 temples has been entrusted to an assistant engineer.
Out of the Rs 270 crore (£27.1 million) allocated to revive some temples and also for the conduct of rituals in temples, Rs 238 crore (£24 million) funds have been released.
Satyanarayana said Samarasata Sewa Foundation (SSF), a religious NGO from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, has come forward for the construction of the temples. According to its website, SSF is a federation of organisations working for protecting and promoting Hindu Dharma.
When India Weekly spoke to V Ranga Prasad, one of the officials of the organisation, he said they were asked by TTD to take up the construction work. “We have built more than 500 temples earlier. Another 300 are coming up. These temples are built in schedule caste, schedule tribe as well as fishermen colonies in Andhra Pradesh with the support from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and our goal is to prevent conversion.”
(With PTI inputs)
