Techies, docs clean temple

Mantralayam (kurnool)
Oct. 7: The clean-up after the floods may be tardy in other places, but in Mantralayam, doctors, techies, lecturers and priests are pouring in from Bengaluru and Hyderabad to wash away the mud and slush at the Sri Guru Rahgavendra Swamy temple premises.

The floods from the Tungabhadra had surged into the temple and had made a mess of its premises. “I took leave for three days and came here,” said Mr N. Prasanth, an employee of a BPO in Bengaluru. “Hundreds of volunteers are coming from Karnataka. We are searching for books, talapatras and manuscripts.”
Dr Sindhu Joshi, a diabetologist of Mahaveer hospital and poorvashrama daughter of the present pontiff Sri Suyateendra Teertha Swamy, had reached the temple on October 6 and had set up a medical camp as the mutt hospital was washed away in the floods. “It is just to show my dediation to the Sri Raghavendra Swamy,” she said.
Her husband, Mr Vittal Joshi, a resident of Kachiguda who owns the Corpus Media Lab in Hitec City, had flown to Bengaluru and had roped in seven other techies working for Oracle, HP, Infosys and HSBC Bank. They are all involved in the clean-up efforts now.
Mr N. Venkata Subba Rao, a lecturer in Sanskrit in St Francis Xavier College at Barkatpura, is also part of the team.
“I came here for Dasara holiday and took part in relief efforts from the first hour of the flood,” says Dr Archak Jayateerdha, a dental doctor working in Mahaveer Hospital in Hyderabad. “My father Archaka Madhaveshachar was one among those we saved.”
The Mula Ramo Digvijaya Rama idol which should always be with the Pontiff was taken to Bengaluru. It was brought back along with swamy who returned on Tuesday.
Temple authorities said that gold and diamonds worth crores of rupees were intact. The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa, has announced an assistance of Rs 10 crore to the mutt but the state government is yet to make any such move though officials estimate that its losses could be pegged at Rs 50 crore.

Source::DC