Tension prevailed at the Ramateertham village of Nellimarla Mandal in Andra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district as news spread of unidentified miscreants vandalising a temple located on Bodi Konda hill and damaging the idol of Shri Rama.
On Tuesday, locals visiting the 400 year-old Kodanda Rama Temple on the Bodi Konda hill found that the idol had been damaged and the head had been separated from the idol. It is suspected that the vandals took the idol’s head with them or dumped it in the nearby forest. As news of the crime spread, locals began thronging to the temple. Investigation into the matter has begun, as SP B Rajakumari visited the temple and deployed a team to collect evidence against the miscreants.
Local Telugu Desam Party leaders S Ravisekhar and others rushed to the temple and staged a dharna at the foot of the hill. They demanded that the government take swift action against the miscreants and provide security to Hindu temples. BJP district president R Pavani and others also visited the temple and staged a dharna. They condemned the brutal incident and demanded that the government find the criminals and take measures to safeguard the temple. Nellimarla MLA B Appala Naidu also visited the temple and reviewed the situation.
Srinivasananda Swamy, Chairman of Ramateertham Parirakshana Parishad also visited the temple and stated that this offensive and disrespectful incident has pained the devotees visiting the temple. He said that the government should rapidly act on this issue to restore confidence among the public and provide protection to all the temples in the state.
The village of Ramateeertham is also home to the Sitaramaswamy Temple, another temple dedicated to Shri Rama.
The crime took place one day before Andhra Pradesh Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was set to visit the district.