Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Siddhendra Yogi's idol consecrated in Kuchipudi temple

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA FEB. 12. Amidst chants of Vedic mantras, an idol of Siddhendra Yogi, creator of the world-famous Kuchipudi dance style, was consecrated in a temple constructed adjacent to the temple complex of Sri Bala Tripura Sundari and Ramalingeswara Swami, presiding deities of Kuchipudi village in Krishna district today.

Arrangements have been made for regular worship of the idol with "Dhoopa, deepa, naivedyam'', Suprabhatam, Ashtottharam etc as in any other temple. Kuchipudi exponent, Vempati China Satyam, said that it was a red-letter day for all those performing Kuchipudi dance within the country and outside. "We must all remember that we are leading decent lives because of Siddhendra Yogi's bhiksha and we must repay our debt at least in a small measure'', he said. He hoped that the Government would take steps for developing Kuchipudi as an international centre for dance and tourism.

He thanked Dr. Sreedhar Potharaju and his wife Jyotsna for taking keen interest in the temple project. The couple provided the idol at their own expense. They got it sculpted by Ganapati Stapati of Mahabalipuram and got it transported to Kuchipudi. Both of them came down from the U.S. to Kuchipudi to participate in the consecration ceremony today. She was the disciple of Vempati China Satyam in the U.S. The reception committee specially honoured the couple on the occasion.

Noted cine director, K. Viswanath, was the chief guest on the occasion. Mr. Viswanath said he did not know much about either dance or music. He felt that he was given the honour perhaps because he chose subjects relating to dance and music and made them popular through his films. He hoped that Kuchipudi would be for dancers as Varanasi is for the Saivites.

The reception committee has decided to conduct the Kuchipudi dance festival every year on February 12 to commemorate the day of installation of Siddhendra Yogi idol in the temple. The committee also felt the need to purchase a site available in the vicinity of the temple for construction of an auditorium which could seat 1000 persons. Veteran artistes like Vedantam Satyanarayana, who mesmerised audience as Satyabhama, Korada Narasimha Rao, who won acclaim as Apara Bhasmasura, Achanta Venkata Ratnam, who carved a niche for himself as Duryodhana attended the ceremony and recalled their experiences.

Mr. Narasimha Rao expressed concern over the growing depiction of sex and crime in films and felt that persons like Mr. Viswanath should use their clout to reverse the present trend and protect our culture.

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