Deccan Chronicle Article

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Hyderabad, Apr 22: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's pet project

of developing Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam and its surroundings into

a world tourist spot received opposition from an unexpected quarter

on Tuesday.

 

The Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swami said the

sanctity of the the abode of Lord Venkateswara would be vilified by

tourism projects. "Whether it is Chief Minister or the Prime

Minister, nobody has the authority to spoil the sanctity of places of

religious worship," he said.

 

"I am not against development of tourism spots but (any activity at)

places of religious worship should be left to the discretion of

religious heads. Tirumala being a Vaishnavite temple, the advise of

Vaishnavite Vedic pandits should be taken before implementing any

tourism project," the Chinna Jeeyar told presspersons.

 

Referring to the much-hyped ropeway project at Tirumala, he said the

temple authorities had already compromised with several traditions to

facilitate darshan with a view to increasing the number of devotees.

 

The temple authorities had done away with the tradition of closing

the doors during midnight to give the Lord rest during the last

couple of years. It was only from February last that the door wsa

being closed between 1 am and 3 am, he said.

 

"And who knows what type of person will be dropped on the hills

through the ropeway project. The hills as a whole have a sanctity of

their own. Will the the person dropped would be clean enough to have

the darshan of Lord Venkateswara? Besides, if the place becomes a

world tourism site, how would the temple authorities cope with the

rush. They are already under tremendous pressure with the existing

number of devotees," he said.

 

On the State government's plan to construct a Venkateswara temple in

each constituency with preference given to Dalit areas, he said

project should not be implemented in haste.

 

There are over 40,000 temples in the State, in many places archakas

do not even have money to offer naivedyam.

 

The government should first ensure finances to the existing temples

and go for new ones later, he said. Besides, the government should

identify people who voluntarily come forward offering services, train

them in maintenance and preservation of sanctity of temples.