Grand celebrations mark Ratha Saptami at Agiripalli temple

Ratha Saptami celebrations were held in a grand manner at Sobhanachala Vyagra Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Agiripalli in Eluru district on Sunday.

State Minister for Housing, Information and Public Relations, Kolusu Parthasarathi, offered silk garments to the presiding deity and performed special prayers. Later, annaprasadam was distributed to devotees.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said he prayed for the good health, prosperity and happiness of the people of Andhra Pradesh. The Agiripalli temple will be developed at an estimated cost of ₹15 crore over the next three years as part of the State government’s focus on temple tourism. A ghat road is already under construction at a cost of ₹3.50 crore, he said.

The Minister stated that plans include the construction of tourism guestrooms, cottages, rest houses for devotees and dining halls to provide better amenities. He added that the Agiripalli temple would soon be developed into one of the prominent temples in the State.

Mr. Parthasarathi also assured that a culvert would be constructed in the village and CC roads would be laid with special funds. He said that within three years, all eligible beneficiaries would be provided permanent houses with government assistance of ₹3.50 lakh each and that pensions would be ensured for all eligible persons.

Officials from the Endowments department, Vedic scholars, temple priests, local leaders, public representatives, alliance leaders and a large number of devotees attended the programme.