Vijayawada police form teams to trace missing silver lion statues of temple chariot

Days after they found that the three silver lion statues adorning the Vijayawada Durga-Malleswara Swamy chariot were “missing”, the temple authorities have approached the police on Thursday.

Vijayawada police commissioner B Srinivasulu said that an FIR was registered, and three special teams were formed to trace the statues worth around Rs 18 lakh.

The case was registered based on the complaint of the temple’s executive officer Suresh Babu, who stated that the chariot was not used since 2019 Ugadi.

The procession of the deities on the silver chariot is the main attraction of Ugadi (the Telugu-Kannada new year day) events at the temple. Due to Covid-19, the event was cancelled this year.

The loss of the silver-plated statues was discovered earlier this week and came to the public notice on 15 September. Only one lion statue is now remaining attached to one of the four columns of the chariot, purportedly in a damaged condition.

The temple on the Indrakiladri hill on the left bank of river Krishna is a very popular Shaivite shrine in the state.

The news of the three silver figurines missing has startled devotees and others, especially when a series of suspicious incidents are being reported at various temples in Andhra Pradesh from the last few months.

On 5 September, the 40 feet wooden ratham (chariot) of the famous Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy at Antarvedi in East Godavari district was gutted in a fire under mysterious circumstances. Earlier, in February, the chariot of the Prasanna Venkateshwara Swamy temple was charred in Bitragunta in Nellore district.

In January, several idols of Hindu gods and goddesses were damaged in Pithapuram town of East Godavari district where Antarvedi is located.

The TDP, BJP, JanaSena parties, and the VHP etc., Hindu organizations are accusing the YSRCP government’s laxity in preserving the Hindu temples and properties as causing such incidents.

The ruling and opposition party leaders are engaged in a political slugfest over the occurrences.

With BJP, JanaSena intensifying the agitation over the Antarvedi episode, the Jaganmohan Reddy government has handed over that case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.