Kaligiri temple lies in state of neglect

Chittoor: Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple located on top of the hill at Kaligiri lies in a state of neglect, despite being situated just 15 km from Chittoor city and 7 km from Puthalapattu. Lord Venkateswara, main deity of the temple, has 600-year-old history. Number of devotees visiting the temple has come down drastically for the last several years as there is no proper transport facility to reach the temple.

A sizeable number of devotees visit the temple only on Saturdays. After temple was taken over by the Endowment and Tourism departments, a guest house was built and a park was developed in 32 acres at a cost of Rs 50 lakh in 2006. But, AP Tourism officials did not take measures for upkeep of the guest house and park. Now, the park wore a desert look without any greenery.

Priest Krishnamachari and his wife have been living in the temple premises for the last fifteen years and performing pujas to deity. Speaking to The Hans India here on Friday, Krishnamachari said devotees, earlier, used to visit the temple on all days in a week. He said that temple has been neglected as there is no trust board for the last few years.

Krishnamachari expressed anguish as there is no proper transport facility to the temple from Chittoor city. He stated that the Executive Officer never visits the temple. As a result, the response from the devotees to the temple has come down drastically, he added. Krishnamachari pointed out that he and his wife were living in temple premises with the meagre salary given to them.

The priest said that the AP Tourism officials did not take measures for temple development after constructing guest house and park. He pointed out that devotees will be interested to visit the temple if the officials concerned take measures for improving transport facilities and laying a road from foot of the hill to the temple which is located on top of the hill.