The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Temple for goddess of wealth

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Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Temple for goddess of wealth

Bheemunipatnam, the second oldest municipality in the country, will now have the distinction of the second temple of its kind in the country for goddess Mahalakshmi. The Mahalakshmi temple at Kolhapur in Maharashtra has seen that region swell in economy and Mumbai became the financial capital of the country. Similarly, Sadguru Kandukuri Sivananda Murthy, who built the temple at his Anandavanam in Bheemunipatnam , is hopeful that his temple will become rich and make the entire region prosperous. The opening of the Adyadi Sree Mahalakshmi temple itself was very special with Jagadguru Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Sri Jayendra Saraswathi coming all the way from Tamil Nadu to install the idol of the deity carved out of special stone from Orissa. There is no hundi, nor any charges for darshan or puja. Therefore, special pujas for the sake individuals are not performed. .

Starry campaign

With the reception actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi is getting, it is quite clear that the crowd-pulling capacities of a star stand him in good stead when he decides to take the plunge. Though political parties are running down the mega star drawing a line between him and the TDP founder NTR, people appear to be very fond of Chiranjeevi too.

As he enters the last leg of his first major road show after entering politics, the rousing reception he got gave a boost to the fledgling party’s ambitious bid for power. With alliances still in a fluid state and the Praja Rajyam founder striking a chord among people, an interesting campaign is on the cards what with the entire Nandamuri star cast being lined up by TDP. Congress has Rajasekhar, Jeevitha and the ‘Super Star’ Krishna and Mahesh Babu fans to boost its chances. People will have their favourite stars appearing in flesh and blood and kicking up a political storm that only elections will settle.

Fuelling pollution

Ratan Tata must have heaved a sigh of relief when the Gujarat Government welcomed him with open arms after he pulled out of Singur in West Bengal. The average middle class Indian must also have felt happy that the Nano project will soon become a reality. An environmentalist from Andhra University E.U.B. Reddy feels otherwise. The proposed Rs.1 lakh car would result in the ‘Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter’ (RSPM) levels going up to dangerous levels. The clouds of smoke would enter homes and choke the residents and cause various respiratory problems.

“I wrote to Ratan Tata and he was gracious enough to reply that his company was planning to make cars in future that run on eco-friendly fuels. He also spoke of the company’s plans to strengthen the public transportation system in the country,” said Prof. Reddy.

(Prabhakkar Sharma, G.V.Prasada Sarma and B. Madhu Gopal)

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Andhra Pradesh