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200-year-old lamp still burning
A 200-year-old oil lamp lighted to mark the victory of the Bobbili rulers over enemies is still burning bright at the monolithic Sriveeranjaneyaswami temple at Munnanuru village of Gopalpet mandal in Mahbubnagar district.
Wanaparthy: A 200-year-old oil lamp lighted to mark the victory of the Bobbili rulers over enemies is still burning bright at the monolithic Sriveeranjaneyaswami temple at Munnanuru village of Gopalpet mandal in Mahbubnagar district.
The fifth generation priest, Venkataiah, is carefully protecting the lamp to ensure that the castor oil lamp is not put out. The Bobbili rulers had a pact with the ruler of Gopalpet – Rani Ranganayakamma – and vowed to light a lamp at the Sriveeranjaneyaswami temple if they emerged victorious in the war with rivals.
While returning after defeating the enemy, the Bobbili rulers fulfilled their vow and asked Rani Ranganayakamma to send necessary wicks and castor oil to the temple and offered to reimburse the costs. Since that day, Rani Ranganayakamma ensured the supply of wicks and castor oil to the temple.
The rulers of Gopalpet princely State paid attention to the needs of the temple priests. Even after the merger of princely States with the Indian Union, the village elders pooled the money and ensured that the lamp continued to glow. The fifth generation priest Venkataiah said that his ancestors – Narsimhulu (father), Venkatramulu (grandfather) and their forefathers – kept the tradition alive.
Up to 1999, people of neighbouring villages of Munnanur knew about the legend related to 200-year-old lamp. The whole world came to know about the ever-glowing lamp when the temple was given a facelift pulling down the ancient mud-walled structure.
According to the temple priest, several people from the district pay a visit to the temple to have darshan of the lamp. Come what may, the priest’s first priority is to protect the lamp. If the family were to go out of the village due to unavoidable circumstances, the family entrusts the task of keeping the tradition alive to a villager called Nagaraju and his family.
The priest said that the farmers used to give paddy to the temple when they harvested the crops. The temple has no hundi at all. After giving facelift to the century-old temple, the village became popular. The villagers are carefully protecting the lamp to ensure that it glows forever. They appealed to the Endowments Department to merge the temple with the department and fix honorarium to the temple priest.
By Sunkari Nagesh
