Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy Devasthanam, the historic Siva temple of Telangana, also called ‘Dakshin Kashi’, is plagued with several problems.
This is the biggest temple in Telangana and draws a number of pilgrims besides generating a huge quantum of revenue. However, devotees visiting the shrine are put off with the lack of amenities and poor sanitation. Devotees’ woes begin as they enter the temple by passing through a narrow by-lane.
After waiting at the central enquiry office, pilgrims have to struggle to locate their room. Even the rooms are not suitable for a stay in as there is no upkeep. However, pilgrims are forced to compromise and proceed for darshan of the presiding deities to take a holy dip in the ‘dharmagundam’. Forget about taking a holy dip in the tank; one is sure to acquire a disease due to the murky and polluted water.
Locals say that the construction of a sewerage treatment plant to check the pollution of the temple tank has remained a distant dream for several years. The government had taken up the supply of drinking water from the LMD reservoir on the outskirts of Karimnagar town to the temple at a cost of Rs. 9 crore in 2007, but it remained in the pipeline and the project cost escalated due to delay in the completion of works.
Satyanarayana Reddy, a pilgrim from Rudrangi of Chandurthi mandal, feels that the government should take up road widening works at the temple shrine and construct another bridge across the Mulavagu to ease traffic congestion. He is also of the view that the authorities must remove encroachments and take up beautification works.
Taking into consideration the steady increase in the number of pilgrims, temple executive officer Krishnaji Rao told The Hindu that they had submitted an action plan at a cost of Rs. 25 crore to take up the development of the shrine by providing additional accommodation, modern queue lines, dormitories, distribution of free prasadam and other beautification works.
