JAGTIAL, JANUARY 02, 2025: Koti Lingala, the ancient and historic temple shrine also known as Sri Koteshwara Siddeshwara Swamy devasthanam, in the first capital city of Satavahana dynasty, in Velgatoor mandal of Jagtial district, is now a neglected lot and causing umpteen woes to the pilgrims visiting the temple shrine.
Located amid picturesque hillocks and thick green cover on the banks of the river Godavari, the Koti Lingala temple, considered one of the 16 great janapadas of early India, is a treat for pilgrims. After the construction of the Sripada Yellampalli Project (SYP), the backwaters from the project had proved to be a boon to pilgrims to have a holy dip in the river and enjoy nature’s beauty in a boat ride.
Thanks to the lethargy of the district administration and the Endowments department, sanitation goes for a toss at the historic and ancient temple shrine. The pilgrims to the shrine are greeted by garbage strewn all around the temple shrine.
The entire temple periphery is ill-maintained and a foul smell emanates from rotting garbage heaps, coconut shells, vegetable waste, plastic cups and plates, left over food and packing materials etc can be found strewn all over.
On the other hand, the Koti Lingala grama panchayat collects Rs 30 as parking fee from the vehicles including cars, autos and other four-wheelers, but fails to maintain the proper sanitation at the temple shrine. Ironically, the vehicles of the pilgrims coming from far-flung places are forced to stop and park the vehicles at a long distance and forcing the devotees to trek to reach the shrine. Incidentally, the Grama panchayat do not enter the vehicle numbers on the receipts after collecting the parking fee.
Says a devotee: “We have been complaining about the unclean surroundings to the temple authorities but to no avail. Not just the grama panchayat, vendors around the temple are also responsible as they throw garbage everywhere. It poses inconvenience for the devotees and tourists as they have to walk through the waste and garbage”.
The devotees also complain about the non-operation of the boating facility on the backwaters of the Sripada Yellampalli project on various pretexts by the tourism authorities and disappointing the pilgrims coming from far-flung places.
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