VIJAYAWADA: In yet another controversy surrounding a major pilgrim centre in the state, a senior priest of the famous Sri Bramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy temple at Srisailam in Kurnool district was on Tuesday suspended for allegedly performing 'tantrik' rituals in the temple town. The Shivaite temple of Srisailam in the dense Nallamalla forest ranges is one of the Jyotirlinga temples and is thronged by pilgrims from AP, Telangana, Karnataka and other states across the country.
According to information reaching here, the priest Ganti Radhakrishna was caught performing tantrik rituals at his SRC 31 Quarters in the temple town late on Monday night. It is said that there are some differences between the temple priests and the Executive Officer of the temple, Sri Ramachandra Murthy, and the priest Radhakrishna was allegedly performing tantrik rituals for the ouster of the EO from the post.
Radhakrishna was said to be performing the rituals for the past three days but it came to light late on Monday night with some people informing the temple authorities about the performing of rituals in the quarters.
Temple authorities rushed to the quarters and found the priest performing the rituals and on Tuesday morning, the EO issued orders suspending the priest, information reaching here said. Temple authorities, however, are tight-lipped over the incident.
It may be recalled that in recent times, similar tantrik rituals were performed at the sub-temple of the famous Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam district and early in the year, similar allegations of performing tantrik rituals at the Goddess Kanaka Durga temple shocked devotees.