Hindus around the world are building several huge temples, maintaining them traditionally. All these are being built with the initiative of a few individuals in charity without the involvement of government encouragement and resources. However, all of them have immense faith towards temples that have been receiving worship for a long time in India.
Retired IAS officer Dr. Dasari Srinivasulu, who took charge as the Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Trust in Vijayawada the day after Vinayaka Chavithi, is showing interest in formulating a grand plan to get the cooperation of the Andhra diaspora for the development of temples in AP. He want to connect all the famous temples in AP with the temples and their administrators in countries like USA.,
Making arrangements to connect each major temple in the state with another major temple in other countries, he wants to facilitate them to take part in the development and spiritual rituals of temples here. The very next day after assuming office, he met the 85-year-old veteran who built the Parashakti Temple in Michigan, USA, Dr. Krishna G. Kumar discussed this proposal.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu himself had previously gifted a goddess idol to the Parashakti Temple built by Dr. Kumar. After receiving a positive response from him, Dr Srinivasulu is getting ready to take a step forward in this regard. Dr. Kumar expressed his positive attitude towards connecting the Kanakadurga Temple in Vijayawada with the Michigan Temple.
It should not be forgotten that the Indians living abroad have not only a spiritual but also an emotional connection with the temples in their homeland. Establishing such a connection can be a cultural engineering act in a way. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams saw a 10 percent growth in foreign pilgrim participation in 2024.
If this trend continues, there is a possibility that temples in Vijayawada, Tirupati, Michigan, and perhaps London will organize coordinated spiritual programs. Dr. Srinivasulu, while working as the Endowment Commissioner of the combined Andhra Pradesh, made efforts for the development of temples in AP with the participation of non-resident Andhras.
However, at that time, the managing committees of the respective temples and even the elders in the government did not show much interest, so it did not work.
Now, when the AP government led by Chandrababu Naidu is also making large-scale efforts for the participation of non-resident Andhras in the development of the state, Dr. Srinivasulu’s efforts are likely to yield good results. He believes that there is a great need to universalize the glory of Hindu culture, religious observance, and traditions of the past.
He made it clear that he was committed to the protection of Hindu Dharma when he took charge as the new chairman of the Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Trust. He said that he would work to bring more fame to Hindu traditions and culture. Previously, as the president of the Samajika Samarasta Foundation, he built more than 500 temples in SC and ST colonies and fishermen colonies in the state where there were no temples.
TTD provided the necessary financial resources for this. He built the temples desired by the locals in the colony and also entrusted them with the responsibility of maintaining them jointly. If any of their family members were interested, they were given appropriate training and appointed as priests in the respective temples. In this way, by ensuring that the construction and maintenance of temples were done with social participation, he initiated a kind of social change in the state.