The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News : Devout take to the streets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 10, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

Devout take to the streets

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA, AUG. 9. It was indeed a different rasta roko. There were no slogans against the Government or any authorities concerned. The slogans in praise of Lord Venkateswara - Venkatanatha Govinda, Venunatha Govinda, Govinda Hari Govinda - reverberated at Benz Circle in the city this morning.

A few hundred devotees and followers of Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar, mostly women, clad in traditional attire, and the men, accompanying them, sporting "dhotis and namams", led by the disciples of Chinna Jeeyar suddenly descended on the busy Benz Circle around 9.30 a.m. and staged a rasta roko for over half-an-hour.

Traffic disrupted

The vehicular traffic coming from different directions was thrown completely out of gear as the devotees, under the auspices of Sri Venkateswara Bhakta Mandali, squatted on the road on four sides of the Benz Circle preventing the movement of the vehicles.

Even as the commuters were becoming inpatient with the protest, the police found themselves helpless in maintaining the order.

Cops play it cool

The police maintained restraint since a majority of the protestors were women from well-educated families who are not known to venture out on to streets unless the "matter is serious". And, given the sentiments of the people attached to Lord Venkateswara, the matter was, indeed, a serious one, the women argued with the vehicle-owners who were growing impatient by every passing minute.

"The demolition of the 1000-pillar mandapam in Tirumala in the name of the construction of Mahaprakaram by the officials is nothing but a direct blow to the sentiments of the devotees," the protestors said in a bid to convince the stranded people who were in a hurry to reach their offices.

Protestors' demand

In the wake of the decision of Chinna Jeeyar Swami to launch an indefinite fast from August 11 in protest against the demolition of the 1000-pillar mandapam, the protestors were demanding that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) authorities withdraw their moves "to turn the sacred Tirumala-Tirupati hills into a place of tourist enjoyment." The TTD authorities should also desist from any such move that would have an adverse impact on the traditions being followed in Tirupati. The present steps initiated by the TTD authorities were "unwarranted" as they posed threat to the history and traditions of the world famous religious centre.

(Related picture on Page 6)

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