CHITTOOR: The chief priest of the famous Sri Swayambhu Varasidhi Vinayaka Swamy temple at Kanipakam has been placed under suspension after a silver ‘Vibhuti Patti’ offered by a devotee went missing. An internal probe was conducted after the devotee raised the issue of missing ‘Vibhuti Patti’. After which, priest Dhaneswar Gurukul was suspended.
It may be noted that a devotee donated a silver ‘Vibhuti Patti’ worth Rs 18 lakh to the temple after its renovation. It was decorated to the presiding deity on August 21. Later, it went missing.The issue came to the fore when the devotee asked for a receipt of his donation of the silver ‘Vibhuti Patti’ to the temple. When the temple staff did not give the receipt, the donor took up the issue with the management, who ordered an inquiry.
Later, the ‘Vibhuti Patti’ surfaced. “We have placed the chief priest under suspension, temple chairman Mohan Reddy said.It may be recalled that Rs 10 crore was spent on the new sanctum sanctorum and other renovation works of the temple that started in June last year and completed recently. With the help of donations, Mushika and Maha mandapams were expanded to make the area spacious for devotees.
The temple administration had also set up separate queue lines for entry and exit of devotees. Last year, the temple witnessed around one crore footfall and generated an annual income of Rs 100 crore. After the renovation of the temple, more devotees can witness Abhishekam to the presiding deity without any discomfort.