The Yadadri gambit

K. Chandrasekhar Rao is banking on the ₹1,200-crore Yadadri temple project to checkmate the BJP in Telangana

- RAHUL DEVULAPALLI

Yadagiri is a popular name in Telangana, across castes and classes. So is its female variant, Yadagiriamma. The popularity of the names highlight the widespread devotion to the deities of the Yadadri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple—the Narasimha avatar of Lord Vishnu and his consort, goddess Lakshmi. The temple itself stands on Yadagirigutta; Yadagiri is another name for Narasimha and gutta means hill. The temple town, also known as Yadadri, is about 60km from Hyderabad—and is home to India’s most expensive religious complex project.

In 2015, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government decided to upgrade the Yadadri temple complex on the lines of the Tirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh. Yadadri Tourism Development Authority (YTDA) was formed to run point on the project, which was expected to cost around ₹2,000 crore. Five years and ₹1,200 crore later, the complex is ready.

Yadagirigutta mirrors the rocky terrain seen across the Deccan plateau. Previously, a narrow road from the highway, flanked by small shops, led to the foot of the hill. From there, ghat roads led to the top. The temple was perched on one corner of the hill. The sanctum sanctorum was a small cave in which stood a stone with engravings of Narasimha. Temple authorities and locals say it has been a pilgrimage site for centuries, visited by thousands of devotees daily.