KHAMMAM: Even Lord Rama’s ‘property’ is not safe from land encroachment. The Sita Ramachandraswamy Temple in Bhadrachalam claims legal ownership of 1,345 acres of land. However, due to encroachment, it doesn’t have control over a whopping 1,152 acres. Temple officials say the cumulative worth of this land is anywhere between `700 crore to `1,000 crore.
Currently, the temple’s trust board gets only `20 lakh a year in the form of rent, sale of prasadam and service charge for poojas. Sources remarked this figure would be in the crores if the board still had control over all of its land. In the absence of a steady income stream, the temple is running on donations made by a few charitable devotees. From employees’ salaries to temple maintenance, these donations keep the clock ticking.
B Adinayarana Reddy, a devotee, commenting on this situation, told Express, “Though he (Lord Rama) is a god and owns so much property, he is still a poor god.”
It is interesting to note that the deity Bhadradri Rama, as he is affectionately referred to by devotees, is not even immune to geopolitics in the region. The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh has led to a division of the temple’s estate -- nearly 917 acres of the land is now in Andhra Pradesh. Most of this land is in Purushothapatnam village, which lies only a few kilometres from Bhadrachalam. This village was earlier allocated to Telangana but was transferred to Andhra Pradesh a few months after the bifurcation in June 2014. The remaining 233 acres of land are in Medak district. Of course, the problem of encroachment exists in both the sibling States.
Speaking to Express, I Venkateswara Reddy, a former president of the trust board, said, “If the temple could get these lands back, it would have no shortage of funds in the future.”
Recently, Endowments Department Commissioner Anil Kumar had visited the temple and convened a meeting on the matter. He directed officials concerned to start demarcating the temple’s properties by putting up sign boards with survey numbers and other relevant information. He also asked them to explore legal options against encroachers.
Temple Executive Officer T Ramesh Babu said, “We are taking the necessary steps to take the lands back from the encroachers.”
