Preparations for Krishna Pushkaralu are taking place in full swing. This year the Krishna Pushkaralu is going to start from August 12. In a new initiative, the state government has decided to install statute of goddess Krishnaveni on the banks of the Krishna at Beechpally in Mahbubnagar.

Telangana Chief Minster K. Chandrasekhar Rao will unveil the statue on August 12. The old statute which is already there was made of concrete and Plaster of Paris. It has been totally damaged due to the floods in 2009.

A Sculptor from Gouthampally in Telkapally mandal of Mahbubnagar district, N. Nagababu has been chosen to prepare the two statues.
An official said that “one statue would be unveiled at the Hanuman temple at Beechpally on the banks of the Krishna near the Pushkar Ghat and another at the collectorate to mark the first Pushkaralu. When the collector visited Telkapally earlier, she was impressed by the sculptures designed by Mr. Nagababu picked him for his skills.”

He said “Nagababu is a student of prominent sculptor Janardhanacharyulu of Ongole. He was given the order 10 days back and work begun the same day. We will hand them by August 7. Each statue will be 10 feet tall, and the sculptor has opted for Martur stones from Prakasam district. The black and blue stone from Martur has a long life.”

He added that “the status would be expensive, with raw material and craftsmanship costing about Rs 1.5 lakh each.”

On the other hand ministers, Indrakaran Reddy and Jagadish Reddy inspected the bathing ghats at Mattapalli and Vadapalli in Nalgonda district.

MP Gutha Sukender Reddy, MLA Bhaskar Rao, and district officials were also present during the inspection.

Speaking to the media, the Ministers said that “State government is making all necessary arrangements for the convenience of the devotees to have a hassle-free holy dip in River Krishna during Pushkaralu.”

They said “Since the government decided to conduct Krishna Pushkaralu on par with Godavari Pushkaralu, 80 bathing ghats at a cost of Rs 862 crores were being constructed along the river belt in Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts. 85 percent of works pertaining to Pushkralu were already completed and the remaining works would be completed by August 5.”

They also expressed concern over the decrease of Krishna water in Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam dams.

They said, “if sufficient water is not available in dams to release water to the canals for the holy dip in Krishna River, then the government will approach the Karnataka government to get 25 TMC water.”

District Collector P Satyanarayana Reddy, SP Prakash Reddy, Joint Collector Dr. N Satyanarayana and MLC Palle Rajeshwar Reddy were also present during the tour.

Also Read: Krishna Pushkaralu Expenses too high!

BY M. DIVYA SRI