Anantapur: Covid-19 pandemic has not even spared divine abodes with two lockdowns hitting temple revenues hard. Many famous and historical temples are finding it hard to pay salaries to priests and other workers in the district.
Temples under endowment and Central archaeological departments are facing worse conditions due to poor flow of devotees for the past one-and-a-half years. Most of the historic temples date back to Cholas, Pallavas and Vijayanagara empires era in the region and have devotees not only from AP and Telangana but from neighbouring states as well.
Lord Narasimha Swamy temple in Kadiri town in the district witnessed poor income following Covid pandemic. The temple has devotees from various states and more than three lakhs take part in Brahma Rathotsavam every year. Devotees rush continues throughout the year in the temple. However, during the pandemic, except during Brahma Rathotsavam, all remaining days witnessed poor rush of devotees.
The daily…