A Hindu temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Agara Mangalam village in Gangadhara Nellore Mandal of Chittoor district was attacked and the Nandi Idol near the sanctum sanctorum found destroyed.
The Nandi idol in the temple was found broken near its pedestal on the Sunday (27 September) morning. The police has started the investigation.
The event comes in a long series of attacks on Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh. Just this year, several incidents have occurred which brought devotees to the streets in protest.
Earlier this month, Antarvedi, a famous pilgrim centre in East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh is in the boils after a 62-year-old chariot of presiding deity Sri Lakshmi Narsimha was burnt to ashes at night.
In a similar incident in Nellore district, a chariot was burnt down using an accelerant in Prasanna Venkateswara Temple in Nellore in February.
The same month, idols of the deities at the Sri Venu Gopala Swamy temple were destroyed in Rompicharla village in Guntur District. The idol of Sri Ganesha was reportedly stolen.
In January, unknown miscreants were reported to have desecrated many idols of Hindu god and goddesses in Pithapuram city in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. They also burnt down the banners which had images of Hindu gods printed on them.
Pithapuram is one of the 18 Sakti Peethams and the goddess here is known as Puruhutika Devi. The town is also called Datta Kshetram and Paada Gaya Kshetram.
In March 2019, two old Hindu temples in Suryaraopeta, Kakinada Rural mandal of East Godhavari District, Andhra Pradesh were demolished using a JCB machine by the pastor of a nearby church. He also took away the antique idols of the presiding deity of the temple.
On 16 September, three silver lion statues at Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada were stolen. On 17 September, an idol of Lord Hanuman in Yeleswaram was vandalised.
The Jaganmohan-led YSRCP government has been mired in controversies since the beginning of its term. Accusations have been made that the government of Jaganmohan, who belongs to a devout Christian missionary family, has given a free hand to aggressive groups in the state.
The government has vehemently denied the accusations and instead pointed fingers on organised attempts to defame it.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Minister of Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Kodali Nani sparked a row with his insensitive remark on a series of incidents targeting Hindu temples.
“So what if idols went missing? The deity will be unaffected if the idols are vandalised,” said Nani.
He added that the state government would compensate and make a new chariot if it was burnt in Antarvedi. Nani was referring to an incident the chariot-burning incident at Antarvedi.
Recently, hundreds of Hindu activists gathered outside the chief minister’s residence, protesting against the administrative apathy to the alleged hate crimes against Hindus.
