Progress - Jan 2009

1. We found a priest who can do deeparadhana at the temple on daily basis. This is an important first step towards implementation of whole plan. This priest can eventually become a person-in-charge of temple activities, including its renovation/rebuild.

2. In the process of contacting Stapati to start discussion of temple renovation/rebuild activities.

Temple Photos

Main entrance to the temple. Actual temple is on the hill















Temple Access

















Temple Stairs assembled with long stones















Temple Stairs assembled with long stones















Temple entrance above the hill









Temple premises above the hill. The small mandir visible in the photo is of Lord Lakshmi Devi.













Down-hill premises of the temple. There seems to be a very old Lord Shiva's temple on the rightside of hill where main diety Lord Venkateshwara is there.
















This used to be well or water source for the temple. Now, it is filled with sand and completely dried up. The neat-by creek gives hope of rejuvenation of this well if sand and other filling material is dugout.














Stone inscriptions. There seems to be some history associated with the Lord Shiva's temple.




















Stone Inscription - Image processed with edge detection method. The lower part of the image is more readable for a trained eye. Click on the image for larger view.

List of tasks - Project planning

Following is a list of tasks, not necessarily in the correct order.

1. Learn about the existing temple. Who, when, and how it was built, and when was it last maintained. Property associated with the temple and its current occupation/ownership.
2. Visit the location and talk to local people to learn more about the place on which temple of located. Its a rocky hill (gutta), and thus may not belong to any person as such. Talk to local admin/surpanch to see if the area can be purchased.
3. Legals: Learn if the temple is part of temple Endowment department of AP. If so, how to approach. If not, how to protect it from possible endowment issues after it was rebuilt. Explore other legal issues associated with the pre and post building of the temple.
   
4. Sustainability: Explore what it takes to acquire some land in the near-by area of the temple and build a Veda Learning center (Veda Patashala). The details should include cost of acquiring, sustaining (from enchroachments), and actively utilizing the acquired land for the stated purposes.
5. Politics : Talk to local admin/surpanch to learn about parties interested or get hurt by temple rebuilding and post-building efforts, such as Veda Patashala. Identify potential parties in favour and against the rebuilding efforts and know about their rationality for and against the temple rebuilding.
6. Logistics: How to build the temple -
1. Traditional AGAMA SASTRA experts - availability and costs
   
2. Temple construction crew, who specialize in building south indian temples availability and costs
3. Management - availability and costs
4. Time to build the temple
7. Finance: Prepare a complete estimate of funds needed to carryout the whole project with possible lifetime maintenance cost estimate.

Nekkonda Temple - Introduction

This blog is created to maintain a central place to save all the discussions, ideas, etc. regarding rebuilding Nekkonda temple.Nekkonda is a small remote village in Mahbub Nagar District of Andhra Pradesh, India.

There is a very old Venkateshwara Swamy temple at Nekkonda and the temple was formed around a huge stone block on which Lord Venkateshwara's murthy is formed.While the temple is very old and kind of abandoned, the Deity is very powerful and continues to take care of the devotees. Our family is one of such devotees with an aim to rebuild and/or remodel the temple.A separate trust is created in 2007 to initiate formal effort to rebuild/remodel the temple. Temple is on the bank of a creek that joins Krishna River, and thus the water availability is not a major problem.The purpose of this blog is to list, discuss, and finally prepare a project plan for temple rebuilding and remodeling of Nekkonda temple. The discussion includes not only the temple building issues, but also issues related to how to make the temple a self-sustaining body.