The bronze statue of Carnatic vocalist Bharat Ratna M.S. Subbulakshmi at the Poornakumbham circle is to get a facelift, thanks to the intervention of renowned playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam.
The singer had, in a Facebook post, decried the poor state of the statue and its maintenance. The TTD has responded to it directing an official to look into the issue.
The statue, which has been an iconic landmark of the temple city, was unveiled by the then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in 2006. The statue remains a link to Subbulakshmi’s association with the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara.
Mr. Balasubrahmanyam, during his recent visit to Tirupati, expressed his anguish over the deplorable state of the statue. In a Facebook post after darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, he highlighted the ‘unfortunate status of the statue’.
“The strings to the taanpura she holds are broken, The shelter for the traffic constable and the piller [sic] errected [sic] for the publicity hoarding obstructs the view. The worst part, the tanpura is used as piller [sic] for the cables,” he wrote.
The post, which drew a lot of attention from his followers, explained how Mr. Balasubrahmanyam had to request the traffic constable at the junction to allow him to click the picture before a crowd could gather at the spot. He also urged the concerned officials to take steps in maintaining the statue of the divine singer.
“It is not enough to unveil a statue. The concerned department should maintain it with devotion. Clean it at least once in a week and garland. Is this the way to celebrate the centenary of the divine soul?” he questioned.
TTD steps in
He brought it to the notice of TTD Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao who assured of extending the necessary help. When contacted by The Hindu , a senior TTD official maintained that though the statue was in the purview of the Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA), Mr. Rao directed the Chief Engineer to rectify the issue at the earliest.