Andhra Pradesh: The burning of a 62-year-old chariot on the premises of famous Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district on Sunday has triggered unrest from Hindu religious groups across the state.Antarvedi is one of the most revered Vaishnavite religious centres in Andhra Pradesh. The chariot, made of teakwood and used during the procession of the Lord in festive seasons, was burnt to ashes in the early hours of Sunday.
Hundreds of activists belonging to various Hindu groups, including Vishva Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Haindava Sakthi, Hindu Chaitanya Vedika and Dharmaveer Adhyatmik Vedika, etc, stormed the temple located at the confluence of River Godavari.The closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed near the chariot did not function.
Raising “Jai Sriram” slogans, these activists jumped over the barricades put up at a distance from the temple by the police to prevent untoward incidents. The activists lay siege to the temple demanding that the government order a judicial inquiry into the burning of the chariot allegedly by some miscreants.Suspecting that there was a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the burning of chariot, the Hindu activists tried to gherao endowments minister Vellampalli Srinivas, social welfare minister P Viswaroop and BC welfare minister Chelluboina Venugopala Krishna were inspecting the spot where the chariot was burnt.
Stating that the government would take steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents, Srinivas suspected that a conspiracy was going on against the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and it would be foiled.Several Hindu seers like Kamalananda Bharati, Swaroopanandendra Saraswati, Dr CS Rangarajan of Chilkur Balaji temple in Hyderabad condemned the burning of the chariot at Antarvedi. They alleged that the government was giving lame excuses whenever there was an attack on Hindu places of worship.
Seer of Visakhapatnam Sri Sarada Peetham, Swaroopanandendra Saraswati, described the fire accident as unfortunate. He said it was a matter of sentiment for Hindus. He demanded a probe to identify the reasons for it and punish the guilty.Initial investigations revealed that some miscreants set fire to the dried palm tree leaves covering the chariot to drive away honey bees which formed a hive above the chariot. “However, there are no fire safety measures in the temple and there was not even a watchman to oversee the temple protection,” an official familiar with the development said.
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