Kanaka Durga temple officials rap uproar over video on Day 1 of Dasara festival
Temple authorities said the display on LED screen installed downhill near the Model Guest House was purely accidental, and added that allegations of evangelism on temple premises were baseless.
Published: 09th October 2021 07:38 AM | Last Updated: 09th October 2021 07:38 AM | A+A A-
Close to 12,000 devotees had darshan of Goddess on Friday, day 2 of Dasara atop Indrakeeladri (L) Goddess Kanaka Durga adorned the Bala Tripura Sundari avatar in Vijayawada on Friday | Prasant Madugu
VIJAYAWADA: Downplaying the “accidental” playing of a video of another religious community on an LED screen erected as part of the Dasara festival of Kanaka Durga temple here on Thursday, October 7, 2021, the temple authorities condemned attempts by a section of politicians and media to unleash a false propaganda over the issue. Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD), however, ordered a probe into the incident even as the police registered a case and detained two persons for interrogation.
Temple authorities said the display on LED screen installed downhill near the Model Guest House was purely accidental, and added that allegations of evangelism on temple premises were baseless. “We came to know from devotees and police that a video, purportedly of an evangelist of Philadelphia AG Church, was played in one of the LED screens. The display was immediately stopped and a complaint was lodged with police. During interrogation, it came to light that it was purely accidental as the operator concerned failed to switch off after the live telecast had ended, and played the channel’s daily program accidentally,” temple EO D Bramaramba said.
Vijayawada Commissioner of Police Bathini Sreenivasulu too said that the incident might be accidental, but warned of action if it was proved otherwise. Brahmin Corporation former chairman Vemuri Anand Surya wrote a letter to CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking action against I&PR commissioner Vijay Kumar Reddy for encouraging proselytisation in Hindu religious places. BJP leader Lanka Dinakar questioned whether the YSRC government has launched a new scheme, ‘Jaganana Religious Conversions’.
