Doubts over changes to statue of Yadadri Lord

Hyderabad: At a time when Telanganites are eagerly waiting for the inaugural session of the renovated temple of Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy at Yadadri (Yadagiri gutta), reports on modifications done to the main statue of Lord Sri Narasimha Swamy in the sanctum sanctorum or Garbhagriha, are creating tremors among the devotees.

The architect and sculptors, who have been engaged in renovation works of the temple, have reportedly done some modifications on the statue of Lord Narasimha Swamy. It seems that it has been so bizarre that the idol wears a fierce look contrary to the pleasant posture it bore earlier. The idol reportedly has a lengthy tongue and incisors. Moreover, the seven-headed serpent above the head of the Lord is now believed to be a five-headed naga. It is further observed that the gap between the crown and the serpent has been widened further.

Agreeing about the incisors on the face of the idol, the main priest of the temple, Nllamthegal Laxminarasimha Charyulu, clarified “as they have removed the ‘sindhuram’ that had been piled up over the decades, incisors are appearing. No one sculpted the main statue. Since the incisors are appearing on the face, the Lord looks like he is in an angry mood.”

In 2015, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao assured that as part of the renovation project, sculptors and architects would not even touch the sanctum sanctorum and Hanuman temple. Only temple walls and ‘gopuram’ would be constructed as per Agama Shastra, he had said.

Lord Laxminarasimha Swamy is a self-manifested (Swayambhu) on Yadagiri gutta (later rechristened as Yadadri) and no one has touched it so far. However, Yadadri Temple Development Authority (YTDA) ruled out all these reports, while terming them as baseless news.

Its former chief sculptor Sundara Rajan reassured that “there’s no truth in reports that modifications are done to the main idol of the Lord. The priests just removed the Sindhuram, which had been piled up over 70 years. No one has touched the main idol.”