Tirupati: Ahead of the foundation laying for the construction of the Lord Venkateswara temple replica in Amaravati, a traditional ceremony was conducted by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on Thursday.
The proposed budget for the Lord Venkateswara temple is said to be Rs 150 crore. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who took part in the ceremony, told the gathering of the devotees and officials that the construction of the temple, to come up on a 25-acre site, would be completed in two years.
The state government has alloted the site free of cost to the TTD, an official of the temple here said. The replica temple would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.150 crore and the foundation stone for it would be laid on February 10, the official told PTI.
The proposed temple complex would have two layers of giant walls encircling the sanctum sanctorum of the presiding deity, a tall “Raja Gopuram” (tower), a vast rituals hall, a Lord Hanuman temple and a sprawling holy tank, he said. State Assembly Speaker K Sivaprasad Rao, ministers Pulla Rao, Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, P Sunitha, TTD Chairman Putta Sudhakar Yadav and TTD Executive Officer A K Singhal were among others who attended the Bhukarshanam ceremony, he added.
Deputy Chief Minister K E Krishnamurthy, who holds the Endowment portfolio, complained that he was not invited for the function. The CMO officials sought a clarification from the TTD authorities, who, however, said a formal invitation had been sent to him, official sources said in Amaravati.