New idols arrive at Ramatheertham temple

Ramatheertham (Vizianagaram): The new idols which were carved out in Tirupati arrived at the Ramatheertham shrine of Nellimarla mandal in Vizianagaram district on Saturday evening.

It may be recalled that recently the idol of Lord Rama at Sri Kodandarama temple at Bodikonda was desecrated by miscreants. The Opposition TDP and BJP strongly protested over the failure of the State government to prevent attacks on temples. TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu visited the shrine while BJP State president Somu Veerraju's trip to Ramatheertham was blocked by the police. Subsequently, the State government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case and sanctioned Rs 3 crore to develop the temples at Ramatheertham.

Meanwhile, officials of the Endowments Department appealed to the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams to carve out new idols for installation at Bodikonda. As per the instructions of government, the new idols were carved out in Tirupati and transported to Ramatheertham.

D Bhramaramba, Joint Director of Endowments, and other temple authorities have welcomed the idols in a grand manner. She said that the idols would be kept in a Balaalayam and special poojas and homams would be performed from January 25 to 28. After the completion of renovation of Kodanda Rama Swamy temple at Bodikonda, these idols would be reinstalled there, she said. Temple priests and a large number of devotees were present when the new idols arrived at the shrine.