HYDERABAD: Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will present ‘Salagrama Haaram,’ a necklace made of a species of ammonite, to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, acording to sources in the Secretariat.
The state cabinet has recently approved the proposal to present the necklace, which would cost Rs 5 crore, to fulfil Rao’s vow to present gifts to temples in Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana after achieving statehood for Telangana. The Salagrama Haram will be prepared under the supervision of IAS officer MG Gopal and guidance of government’s adviser KV Ramanachary.
Apart from the present to Tirumala Venkateswara, the state government has decided to offer a golden crown to Goddess Bhadrakali at Bhadrakali temple in Warangal and golden moustache to Lord Veerabhadra Swamy at Kurvi, golden nose studs to Goddess Kanakadurga at Vijayawada and Goddess Padmavathi at Tiruchanur.
The government also wants to construct a facility for pilgrims to Ajmer dargah in Rajasthan state and efforts are on to fulfil the vow with the state government approaching its Rajasthan counterpart for land.