One of the most prestigious and biggest temples called “Srikalahasthi” collapsed on Wednesday night which is situated in Chittoor district. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh named K. Rosaiah declared that the temple will be re-built with the assistance of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The 500-year-old Srikalahasthi temple is also known as ‘Dakshina Kaasi’. There is large number of devotees gathered around the buckled structure. “We will approach the Archaeological Survey of India to rebuild the Rajagopuram in a scientific manner” he said. “It is a matter which has to be looked into. I don’t have any ready made answers” he also added.
Some cracks on the 136-ft “Rajagopuram” were noticed, collapsed on Wednesday night. According to police, there was no human wounded but approximately 100 monkeys are dead in the incident. The all shops around the temple structure had been shifted. The team of three experts from Chennai examined the temple and announced that the area near the “Rajagopuram” extending up to 150 metres as a “danger zone”. On Tuesday night, thirty-six families which are living in the area were vacated.
Around 8:10 pm, a portion of it collapsed, then after twenty minutes, the entire structure collapsed. But, unbelievably, Krishnadevaraya’s statue right in front of the gopuram was left unscathed. In 1516, The Rajagopuram was constructed by Srikrishna Devaraya, ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, to mark his visit to the temple as part of his march across the empire following his victory over his enemies.
A temple official said “It was sheer providence that no one died”. The incident was terrific which creates panic among pilgrims who blamed the carelessness of officials and temple board members for the accident.
In Andhra Prdesh, Srikalahasthi temple is most popular and most visited temple and it is considered almost a must visit for anyone who visits the famed Tirupati temple. Nearly, the annual revenue of the temple is 100 crore.
Temple officials said “The temple had developed cracks in the late 80s too. In 1996, TTD had helped in renovation to fill the breaches”. The government had approached the professor of IIT Madras named Narasimha Rao, to examine the temple and suggest whether it could be repaired. But the structure collapsed before he could examine it.
About Temple:
''Srikalahasthi'' is one of the most popular and oldest temples of lord Shiva which is situated in South India. Srikalahasthi temple is located 36 km away from Tirupati which is popular for its Vayu deva temple for shrine for the God of Wind in India. Tirupati temple was constructed in the 12th century by the Chola King, Rajendra Chola. Vayu is personalized as Lord Shiva and worshipped as Kalahasteeswara.
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