Over 100 temples damaged in state

Hyderabad
Oct. 6: Temples in the state have not been spared the fury of the Rain God Varuna.
More than a hundred temples, significantly the Guru Raghavendra Swamy temple at Mantralayam, Jogalamba temple at Alampur and Lord Hanuman temple at Beechpally along the banks of the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers, have suffered extensive damage due to the floods and rains.
The extent of the damage is being assessed by the endowments department.
On Tuesday, the endowments commissioner, Mr P. Sundara Kumar, said: “We are assessing the extent of the damage in all the temples. Many are affected in Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts. A survey is on.”
He said the damage is colossal with regard to the Raghavendra Swami temple. Scores of smaller temples on the banks of the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers have either been washed away or are severely damaged. Thousands of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Karnataka visit the Mantralayam temple.
Though the water is gradually receding, the silence inside is eerie, said officials who have visited it. The carcasses of animals and human bodies are reportedly strewn around the temple.
The famous Alampur Jogulamba, which was also inundated, is one of the 18 Shakti peethas and located about 12 km from Kurnool town on the banks of the Tungabhadra.
The 7th-century Siva temple and Nava Brahma temples in Alampur, believed to be built by the Badami Chalukyas, too, were submerged. The waters of the Krishna river entered the Narasimha temple at Vedadri, near Jaggayyapet, in the Krishna district.
As the water entered Muktyala village, the historic Siva temple was closed down. Mattapalli Lakshmi Narasimha temple in Nalgonda district was also flooded.
Despite the flooding, though, priests performed the Krishnaveni pooja on the banks of the river Krishna to calm the god.
The famous Sagar temple dedicated to Shiva, near Nagarjunasagar, was fully submerged while the temple town of Amravati and a well known historic Buddhist site were cut off. Water flowed a foot above the platform of the historic Amaravati Siva temple.
The Krishna waters have entered the Dattatreya temple in Kurgadda near Maktal in Mahabubnagar district. Several other places of worship including dargarhs and mosques were also hit by the heavy down pour and floods.
The revenue minister, Mr D. Prasad Rao, said revenue authorities were assessing the extent of the damage