YUDA to develop Gutta on lines of Tirumala

Hyderabad: Telangana government has decided to set up Yadagirigutta Urban Development Authority (YUDA) to develop hill shrine as a major pilgrimage centre on the lines of Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams. Announcing this, TS Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said that Rs 100 crore would be allocated in the budget for development of Gutta, as the pilgrim centre is known in Telangana. YUDA would take care of hill and land development of Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Yadagirigutta.

Meanwhile, Yadagirigutta special officer G Kishan Rao and architects of Raj Expedith, who had prepared the design of the temple, met KCR at Secretariat on Tuesday and submitted the design. The new design gives the temple an ancient look of hundred-year-old monument. Further, the design has a lot of sculpture work and the way leading to the temple would resemble passage through a cave.

The Chief Minister told them to ensure that the design was in tune with Agama Shastra. Among the suggestions he made to them is to study designs of well-known temples in Amritsar and Aksharadham, a centralised parking and provision for two-way traffic flow to the hilltop and a shopping complex like in Tirumala.

Further, he suggested that there should be adequate place for the pilgrims to take rest atop the hill for which sufficient number of cottages should be built. There should also be provision for the pilgrims to stay overnight as it has been a customary tradition for pilgrims of Telangana and Maharashtra, he said.

KCR asked them to ensure provisions for performing traditional ‘vratham’ on a mass scale. Provisions for Yagasala, Kalyana Mandapam and a hall for discourses were other suggested. Out of the nearly ten acres of land on the hill, the temple should have half of it and the remaining land should be used for facilities, he suggested.