Centuries-old Parvathi Sametha Neelakanteswara Swamy temple at Gudlur in Prakasam district, where Yerrapragada translated Mahabharata from Sanskrit to Telugu, has long been neglected.
The dilapidated structure, which can be reached from Thetu on the Chennai-Kolkata highway, is all set to regain the past glory with a group of heritage lovers contributing their mite to preserve the medieval temple to posterity.
The auspicious ‘Karthika masam’ has aptly been used to bring together all like-minded people to revive the temple by the city-based Gyana Sindhu Dharmika Mandali.
After offering prayers to Lord Neelakanteswara swamy, Yerrapragada, a Telugu poet in the court of King Prolaya Vema Reddy (1325–1353) and the founder of the Reddy dynasty, had taken up the stupendous task of penning the Aranya Parvamu(Book of the Forest), the third part after Nannaya and Tikkanna translated the first two parts of the book ''Andhra Mahabharatam'' between 11th and 14th centuries.
Roping in like-minded people in and around Gudlur, the Mandali cleaned the holy premises on the occasion of Karthika Somavaram and renovated the temple at a cost of ₹50 lakh.
“We have approached the Endowments department for release of an equal amount to improve the facilities at the temple and step up religious activities,” said Mandali president P. Ramachandramurthy.
Tourism circuit
“We plan to raise another ₹one crore to develop the temple and its surroundings and construct a community hall for the benefit of pilgrims visiting the temple from far and wide,” he said and added that the tourism department could promote religious tourism circuit, highlighting the temples of near-by Malakonda and Bhairavakona also.
