Prodattur, October 11: The controversy surrounding the closure of the ancient temple of Agasteswara Swamy and its forceful reopening a couple of days ago took another twist today with the authorities closing the sanctum sanctorum again, evoking angry reaction from devotees.
Upset at not being able to offer prayers in the temple on the auspicious occasion of Sarannavaratri, devotees led by Proddatur MLA M Linga Reddy decided to stage a protest in front of the endowments commissioner’s office in Hyderabad tomorrow. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and party senior leaders are likely to participate in the demonstration, it is learnt.
Authorities had not only locked the four main doors of the temple but also erected a wooden fencing along the perimeter of the temple. The temple was closed down five months ago in the name of temple development. With officials remaining unmoved, they resorted to direct action and removed the grills and entered the temple to perform pujas.
Taking a serious view of the behaviour of the MLA and others, endowments assistant commissioner Mallikarjun Prasad and temple executive officer Kondaiah lodged a complaint with the Two Town police.
–Agencies