KARIMNAGAR: The Telangana Anuvamishka Archaka Samithi has requested Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to restore the hereditary Archaka system in temples in Telangana as the Andhra Pradesh government had done the same. The Samithi requested the system be re-introduced in major temples like Vemulawada, Yadadri, Bhadrachalam, Basara, and Dharmapuri.
The Archaka tradition had been abolished in 1986 when NT Rama Rao was the Chief Minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. Manu of the Archakas who had lost their jobs since then had been running from pillar to post to get their jobs back but in vain. However, during YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s term as Chief Minister, he re-instated some Archakas working in small temples. In October 2019, his son and present Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy re-instated all hereditary Archakas in respective temples through GO No 439.
Archaka Samithi member Sankepalli Nagendra Sharma said that after the system was abolished, many of the Archakas were suffering and a majority were in poor health. Due to the Justice Challa Kondaiah Commission effect, several Archakas lost their jobs in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, he stated. With the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister giving a new lease of life to the Archakas, Sharma requested the Chief Minister to empower the Archaka community and re-instate their status.