Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan (on the screen) virtually inaugurating the Giri Pradakshina route in Srikalahasti on Friday. Tirupati Collector S. Venkateswar, temple Chairman K. Saiprasad and EO T. Bapi Reddy are on the dais.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan has stated that the responsibility of managing the temples and safeguarding the Sanatana Dharma clearly vests with the trust boards and its members.
Reiterating the NDA regime’s resolve to ensure maintenance of temples and protection of the Hindu Dharma, Mr. Pawan Kalyan stressed the need to maintain such shrines by forming the trust boards with apolitical persons.
The Deputy Chief Minister inaugurated in virtual mode the 22-km Giri Pradakshina route around the Srikalahasti temple on Friday from the Secretariat, along with Minister for Endowments Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, legislators Bojjala Venkata Sudheer Reddy (Srikalahasti) and Arani Srinivasulu (Tirupati) and Endowments Secretary Hari Jawaharlal.
The route was developed with an approximate cost of ₹10 crore to promote the concept of taking a spiritual walk around the Srikalahasti hillock on the lines of the ‘Girivalam’ taken by thousands of devotees daily in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai (Arunachalam) temple.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan said that saplings would be planted on either side of the cement road after Mahasivaratri festival.
Tirupati District Collector S. Venkateswar, temple trust board Chairman K. Saiprasad, Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation Chairman Pasupuleti Hariprasad, BJP state vice-president Kola Anand, Conservator of Forest C. Selvam, DFO Sai Baba and the temple’s Executive Officer T. Bapi Reddy were present.
Published – February 13, 2026 09:27 pm IST
