The Yadava community hailed the State Government’s decision regarding restoration of ‘Golla Mirasi’, the hereditary rights of the community pertaining to certain rituals at Tirumala temple.
‘Sannidhi Golla’ is a person/family hailing from the community that has the privilege to open and close the door at the main threshold of Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala every day at dawn. According to temple scriptures, Sannidhi Sarabhaiah was the person bestowed with the right to have first and final darshan of the Lord every day, and the practice was inherited by members of his lineage. Though the system is followed even today, the abolition of the hereditary right some years ago reduced what was once a privilege to a mere job. It was only when the last incumbent Sannidhi Venkataramana ‘retired’ from the position on superannuation that the community understood the real implications of the abolition and then launched a legal battle for restoration of the right.
Hailing the State Government’s recent decision to restore the hereditary right, members of the Akhila Bharata Yadava Mahasabha (ABYM) led by the national youth wing president Y.S. Yadav gathered at Alipiri, the foot of Tirumala hills, and broke coconuts as a thanksgiving to Lord Venkateswara. “It was the previous TDP government that abolished the system that was in vogue since ages, while the present Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy revived the same,” he said. Local Yadav leaders Anna Ramachandra Yadav, Ethamakula Hemanth Kumar Yadav and Katta Jayaram Yadav said the community’s fight for the last fifteen years yielded fruit.
Building Tirupati
The community leaders also met the local legislator Bhumana Karunakar Reddy and thanked him for taking up their issue. Recalling the role of Yadavas in developing Tirupati and the Tirumala temple, Mr. Reddy cited historical accounts and said it was in the year 1130 that Ghati Deva Yadavaraya built Tirupati town under instructions from his spiritual guru Sri Ramanuja.
It was taken forward by Veera Narasingadeva Yadavaraya, Veera Rakshasa Yadavaraya and Ranganatha Yadavaraya who developed Tirumala temple and built its outer precincts. The members appealed to the State Government for establishment of Yadava Finance Corporation to uplift the poorer sections in the community.
