Even gods take a T-break

 It was not just mere mortals but even gods took a break on Tuesday in Warangal district -- the hotbed of the ongoing Telagana movement -- owing to Sakala Janula Samme (Public strike). In all, 746 temples across the district stayed shut to devotees as priests performed the perfunctory rituals and closed temple doors by 8 am.
For a change, the temple bells chimed for Telangana. The priests said they did so to express solidarity with Telangana protagonists and in support of separate state demand. Telangana Archaka Samakhya secretary Ratnakar Sharma told TOI that formation of T-state is of paramount importance to the four crore people of the region. "Rituals can wait for one day and gods will not curse us. T-sentiment is strong and we did our bit in support of the cause," he asserted.
The priests closed the temple doors after performing the early morning rituals and boycotted even the Arjitha sevas (special rituals). Sources said of the 746 temples, 494 are income-generating and the loss could be over Rs 40 lakh.
B Seshu, priest at the 650-year-old Bhadrakali temple in Warangal, said this novel protest by the priests has caused a major revenue loss to the government. "We perform pujas for 250-350 new vehicles everyday after the endowments authorities issue vehicle seva tickets. Leave alone this, even routine archanas and other special pujas were not performed," he pointed out. Nearly 6,000-8,000 devotees throng the famous temple everyday but there were hardly 20 devotees before 8 am, after which the temple doors were locked.
Endowments JAC secretary Gangu Upendra Sharma told TOI that boycott of Arjitha sevas alone had resulted in a loss of Rs 20 lakh to the government. The 500-year-old Veerabhadra Swamy temple at Kuravi, which is swarmed by over 10,000 pilgrims on Tuesdays, wore a deserted look. "Devout from the surrounding mandals of Khammam, Dornakal, Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Warangal and Wardhannapet visit the temple to offer prayers to Lord Shiva. But this Tuesday was different as we didn't mind closing the temple doors for the pilgrims," priest Srinivasa Sharma said.
It was no different in the 500-year-old Komuravelli Mallikarjuna Swamy temple in Cherial, Sri Someshwaraswamy temple in Palakurthy, 800-year-old 1,000-pillar temple in Hanamkonda and Mallikarjuna Swamy temple at Inavole in Wardhannpet, which are major income-generating temples. Priest Jaganmohan Sarma said: "We did not take up important rituals like Satyanarayana vratam, 'pinda pradanam' (during death anniversaries) and other pujas in support of the T-stir. We earn good money and the devout present essential items during these rituals but we have no regrets."
The otherwise busy Lord Rudreshwara Swamy 1,000-pillar temple, which teems with 5,000-10,000 tourists and pilgrims everyday, fell silent. "The protest by the priests should at least open the eyes of the government. The strong mood in support of T-state cannot be ignored," endowments JAC convener T Shekhar Babu felt.
Later in the day, hundreds of priests came on to the roads and took out rallies in some parts of the district. The priests conducted a massive rally from Public Gardens to the martyrs memorial in Hanamkonda. In Warangal, some priests performed 'Veda ghosha' (reading of the Vedas) on the main road to register their protest.