As temple officials admitted that there is no track record of gold and silver ornaments donated by devotees since 2009.
The management of the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam,
Simhachalam has recently started the process of updating the appraisal
register (AR) of the temple jewellery, for the first time since 2009.
Temple officials admitted that there is no track record of gold and silver ornaments donated by devotees since 2009.
Some devotees even suspected that a few gold ornaments donated to the
deity may have gone outside the temple in the 12 years since the last
appraisal, benefiting a section of employees. Devotees also expressed
their anger with the temple management, terming it a ‘negligent
attitude’ in protecting the ornaments.
Speaking, the executive officer of SimhachalamTemple, M V Suryakala,
said that as per practice, jewellery in the possession of the temple
should be updated every three years. But, due to various reasons, the
gold audit was not done for 12 years.
The EO said a two-member team of the endowments department from East
Godavari began the exercise to assess the value and weight of each gold
ornament. The process is likely to be completed within two days.
Officials added that the team verified some of the ornaments listed
in the 2009 AR. It will also verify the ornaments that are with the
temple priests for adorning the deity and inspect and assess the
ornaments that are with the temple assistant executive officer and in
the strong room.
As per practice, devotees hand over gold and silver ornaments to the
temple priests, officials issue a receipt to the donor and the donation
is recorded in the interim register (IR). Some ornaments listed in the
IR have not been updated in the AR since 2009.
The teams will continue assessment till all ornaments are verified
and allotted anumber in the appraisal register. After finalising the AR,
officials will update the property register that will have details of
the total extent of temple land, ornaments and other temple properties.
Later, details of the property register will be submitted to the assistant commissioner of endowments. |
