Drawing inspiration from Bhakta Ramadasu, who built the renowned Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam in the 17th century with unflinching devotion towards Lord Sitarama, a tenth generation descendant of the legendary saint composer is espousing the long cherished aspirations of the devotees for re-induction of an elephant in the service of the temple deity.
Kancharla Srinivasa Rao, a tenth generation descendant of Bhakta Ramadasu (Kancharla Gopanna), of Kothagudem town is actively pursuing the long aspired hopes of devotees to see an elephant leading the religious processions in the historical shrine.
Although the temple, popularly known as south Ayodhya, had an elephant (Gaja Raju) attached to the shrine for decades until flash floods devastated the temple town in 1986. The elephant was moved out from the temple town in the aftermath of the flood havoc in the late 1980s, sources said. The elephant was trapped by the flood waters that encircled the temple town for several days during 1986, when record floods swamped several areas in the temple town, says Mr Srinivasa Rao.
The elephant that used to adore all the main temple ceremonies was subsequently shifted out of the temple town to some other shrine in the undivided Andhra Pradesh over two and a half decades ago. The Telangana government should take initiative for re-induction of an elephant, the most sacred celestial carrier and a symbol of wealth, in the service of the Bhadradri temple, he urged, adding that he had already dispatched a letter to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao highlighting the need for the services of an elephant to conduct the Gaja Vahana seva on a majestic scale in the historical temple. The re-induction of an elephant in the temple service will fulfil the decades old aspirations of the devotees for Gaja Vahana seva of the temple deity involving an elephant with grandeur.
