Ancient temple yearns for a full-fledged EO
Visakhapatnam: afull-fledged Executive Officer (EO) for Simhachalam Devasthanam, one of the ancient temples in the country, is not getting much attention from the state government.
For the past few years, no Executive Officer served Simhachalam Devasthanam consecutively for a long time. This has not only hindered development of the temple but also resulted in failure in organising major annual festivals.
Absence of full-fledged EO is very evident during annual festivals, like 'kalyanotsavam' and the recently-concluded 'Chandanotsavam'. Devotees from across the country arrive at Simhachalam to view Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy's 'nijaroopa' darshan on Chandanotsavam day. In order to make the annual events a grand success, experienced officers play a crucial role to host festivals like Chandanotsavam incident-free.
Even as V Trinadha Rao was given full additional charge as Executive Officer in 2023, he has no prior experience in organising festivals like Chandanotsavam. Simultaneously, he is also serving as the EO of Dwaraka Tirumala Devasthanam. The dual role played by most EOs hinders a chance to pay complete attention to Simhachalam.
Even earlier, the EOs appointed continued shuttling between other major temples of the state, taking additional charge. Eventually, focusing on a single temple has become a challenging task. As a result, the annual Chandanotsavam could not be organised without failures.
The Simhahalam Devasthanam, comprising approximately 9,000 acres of land, earns crores of funds through donors and hundi every month. A number of temples are affiliated to Simhachalam and the Devasthanam has to maintain them.
Protecting the temple lands is also a big challenge for the officials of the Devasthanam as it is tangled in over 10,000 encroachments spreading across 'pancha gramalu'.
As no Executive Officer is continuing for long, the EO of the temple is neither able to focus on resolving the long pending issues nor gaining a command over the staff and organising festivals.
From 2019, only one officer MV Suryakala could discharge her duties for over a year at the Devasthanam from March, 2021 to August, 2022. This was reflected in the peaceful conduct of 'Chandanotsavam' in 2022.
After getting transferred, K Ramachandra Mohan left the Devasthanam in August, 2019. He was succeeded by M Venkateswara Rao who could only continue for 10 months as an EO. Later, D Brahmaramba served as full additional charge (FAC) for three months. She was replaced by V Trinadha Rao. So far, Trinadha Rao has been reappointed as an EO four times since 2020.
After his transfer, D Venkateswara Rao rendered service as FAC for three months. Again, MV Suryakala continued for 17 months as an EO. After her transfer, Brahmaramba was roped in as EO. Within a month, she was again replaced by V Trinadha Rao as FAC. In 2025, Trinadha Rao went on a long leave ahead of Chandanotsavam and K Subbarao appointed as an EO. It is during his tenure, the tragic wall collapse incident took place at the shrine on Chandanotsavam day, claiming seven lives, injuring few others. Based on the report submitted by the three-member committee, the EO was suspended and Deputy Commissioner of Endowments Sujatha was appointed as the FAC. However, there is a less chance for her to serve the temple for long.
For the past five years, the Executive Officers of the Devasthanam have been witnessing transfers within a short span of time due to various reasons.
Given the current scenario, the demand for appointing an experienced and capable Executive Officer has increased so that the ancient temple not only sees signs of development but also witnesses major festivals without any hassle.
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