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Drawing devotees from far and near

Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

SERENE SURROUNDINGS A front view of Sri Abhaya Anjaneya Swami temple at Seethammadhara

Sri Abhaya Anjaneya temple at Seethammadhara North Extension is only about eight years old but the seed of establishing a temple for the Lord was sown in the mind of its founder president A.S.N. Raju over three decades ago.

A glance at the temple and its premises is enough to realise the amount of care being taken by the founder and other committee members for its upkeep. The sparkling marble floor, neat walls and exquisitely carved images of various 'avatars' make a first time visitor to the temple feel that it is a new temple.

Mr. Raju, who retired as an official in the Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, had a dream of building a temple for Lord Hanuman right from his childhood. "When I was staying at Nadh Centre (Guntur) in 1974, the Lord appeared in my dream and told me that I would build a temple for Him. In 1980, I came on transfer to the port city and the same year I formed the Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy Trust and got it registered," he recalls.

The trust approached the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) for allotment of a site for construction of the temple. A 120-square yard plot was allotted by VUDA in 1996 and the next year a foundation stone was laid for construction of the temple. Subsequently, the adjacent plot of the same size was also allotted to the temple.

Apart from raising donations from the public, Mr. Raju contributed funds from his pocket and Sri Abhaya Anjaneya temple was constructed in 1998. Two years later a marble idol of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba was installed. The managing director of CMR Mall M.V. Ramana contributed generously towards provision of better amenities at the temple.

Fifteen sculptures of gods and goddesses, carved along the periphery of the temple complex, appear like wooden sculptures. A closer examination reveals that they are all cement sculptures.

Devotees throng the temple from different corners of the city. On Tuesdays, devotees come from far-flung areas like Kommadi and Simhachalam and present `vada malas' to the Lord and seek his blessings. A unique feature of this temple is that all pujas are done free of cost. Boards have been kept in the premises asking devotees not to pay any money to the priests.

`Ashtottaram' is done free of cost and `sahasranamarchana' is performed free provided devotees bring 1,000 leaves for the puja. `Nakshatra homam' is performed by the director of E.K. Trust Chintalapati Satyadev on 'pournami' days and on every `Ekadasi' devotees recite Bhagavad Gita.

All rituals are performed in accordance with the shaastras by the three priests of the temple. Quarters have been constructed for them behind the temple. While maintenance expenditure is high, 'hundi' collections are not commensurate with the growth in the number of devotees.

"Perhaps devotees are under the impression that the temple doesn't require any funds.

The recurring expenditure for polishing of the marble and granite, painting of the statues and payment of staff salaries requires a huge amount.

Luckily, donations by philanthropists and personal contributions are helping us in the maintenance of the temple," adds Mr. Raju.

B. MADHU GOPAL

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