Rs 2.5 crore alloted for restoration of 1,000-year-old temple in Nellore district

Tirupati: In a significant development, the state endowments department has taken concrete steps to revive the 1000-year-old Siddeswara Swamy temple near the Krishnapatnam port in Nellore district.A group of officials from the archaeology departments of the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh visited this ancient shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva on the Bay of Bengal coast in Nellore district to advance the revival plans of the Andhra Pradesh endowments department.According to state endowments minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, the Kamakshi Sametha Siddeswara Swamy temple, built in the 10th century CE during the Cholas' reign, has great historical significance and needs to be restored in all its glory."The Siddeswara Swamy temple and the Venugopala Swamy temple were built in the Krishnapatnam region, which was earlier known as Gandagopalapatnam. As per the inscriptions found at these temples, there used to be a convention space then renowned as the Desanayakam behind these two temples, where rulers and kings of 18 different nations congregated periodically to strengthen their alliances and take forward the region's development," Anam Ramanarayana Reddy noted.Further explaining that these two ancient temples were last renovated in the 13th century during the reign of Manumasiddhi Maharaj, the state endowments minister added that the Andhra Pradesh govt has accorded administrative sanction to take up renovation works at this ancient Siddeswara Swamy shrine at ₹2.5 crore, in addition to the development works initiated and completed at the Venugopala Swamy temple at a cost of ₹12 crore.Archaeological Survey of India director Munirathnam Reddy stated that the restoration works of the 10th-century Siddeswara Swamy temple have begun at Krishnapatnam upon the request of the Andhra Pradesh govt."We visited this ancient shrine along with the state endowments minister, Sarvepalli MLA Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, engineers and the Sthapathi, and have initiated steps for the restoration of this ancient temple after finalising the designs," Munirathnam Reddy stated.