Villagers of the Budhagavi Gram Panchayat of the Uravakonda Mandal in Anantapur Distric passed a resolution against the Andhra Pradesh government’s take over of the ancient Sri Rama Lingeswara Swamy Temple.
Sri Rama Lingeswara Swamy Temple, situated in Budhagavi village is ancient temple dating backing to the 13th Century and is said to have been constructed during the regime of the Chola Dynasty.
Following several representations submitted by the villagers and representatives of Budhagavi village in March 2010, a No Objection Certificate was issued by the Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh that allowed the people of Budhagavi village to carry out temple development works with their own resources.
A society named ‘Sree Surya Narayana Seva Samiti’ was registered for temple development works in 2011. The villagers have been maintaining the temple and conducting ceremnoies with the financial assistance provided by one Shri Kasibhatla Anantha Rama Sharma.
However, it came to the notice of Budhagavi Gram Sabha that the Andhra Pradesh Endowments Department is trying to take over the temple administration from the hands of the people even though the said temple was never a part of the Endowments Department officially.
In light of this, the people of the Gram Sabha held a formal special on February 18 and passed two resolutions. The villagers have said that the whole responsibility of maintaining the RamaLingeswara Temple will be borne by village people and there shall be no interference of AP Endowments Department in this matter. The ‘Sree Suryanarayana Swamy Seva Samiti’ – a registered society that is currently looking into the maintenance of the temple will take this responsibility in the future too.
Following this, the villagers have now written to the President of India to issue orders to the Government of Andhra Pradesh to maintain status quo in the maintenance of the temple.
#GramSabha of Bhudhagavi, Uravakonda(M), Anantapur Dist, AP filed petition with President of India seeking directions to State Govt to maintain Status Quo by reserving their Rights of Maintaining Ancient Surya Temple in their village under Article 26 of the Indian Constitution. https://t.co/JcP8ZcBckY pic.twitter.com/CoLPT3glKa
— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) February 22, 2022
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