After the grand success of Ram Mandir, Ayodhya could soon have another famous temple but this time from South India as Babu has proposed for a Lord Venkateswara (Balaji) temple in Ayodhya run by TTD.
Babu has asked the UP government to allot 5 to 10 acres of land in Ayodhya for the temple directly at a public meeting. He made the request in the presence of UP CM Yogi Adityanath during the Varanasi-Vadnagar Seva Sankalp Abhiyan.
Explaining the idea, Naidu spoke about the connection between Lord Rama and Lord Venkateswara. He said, ‘Lord Rama is the deity of Treta Yuga and Lord Venkateswara is the deity of Kali Yuga.’ And so it would be great to have two of the prominent hindu deities in the holy city of Ayodhya.
If the proposal gets the green signal, the temple could be developed with the involvement of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). This would give devotees visiting Ayodhya an opportunity to have darshan of Lord Venkateswara without travelling all the way to Tirumala.
Naidu’s idea also has a larger spiritual connection. Ayodhya is known as the land of Lord Rama, while Tirupati is home to the famous Lord Venkateswara temple. A Balaji temple in Ayodhya would bring the traditions of these two major pilgrimage centres together.
Naidu also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making the long-pending Ram Mandir dream a reality. He strongly backed the NDA and highlighted the Centre’s support for Andhra Pradesh. And so even proposed inter-linking of the greatest rivers of Ganga together in UP like how they did with Godavari and Krishna down here.
For now, the Balaji temple remains a proposal. The key step will be the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision on the land request.