 |
| Sri Sri Radha Krishna Vennamudda Gopala Krishna Golden Temple |
In the first phase, the state government has allotted 21 acres of land in Chenghizkhan Pet at the bottom of the Kondaveedu fort in Phirangipuram mandal, to Iskcon on 99 years lease. Though the authorities of Iskcon sought 55 acres in the area, the government allotted about 21 acres in the first phase. The Iskcon will take up construction of a Vedic school and Lord Krishna temple in 17 acres and an orphanage in the remaining four acres.
Iskcon had originally proposed to construct a grand temple at the Kondaveedu fort after local authorities found a rare idol of young Lord Krishna holding butter in one hand and a pot in another (Venna Mudda Gopalaswamy) during excavation works about five years ago.
With government earmarking only 21 acres as against 55 acres, Iskcon has scaled down its temple plan. Once built, the temple would be one its kind dedicated to toddler Krishna in the country.
According to Kondaveedu Development Society convener K Siva Reddy, the idol of crawling Sri Krishna is believed to have been sculpted during Krishna Devaraya's reign in 13century CE. He said the construction of a heritage township by Iskcon will give fillip to the overall development of the Kondaveedu fort area. Iskcon is planning to complete the heritage township project at a cost of Rs 500 crore. Iskcon has set up a special unit in Guntur to closely monitor the revival of Krishna temple at Kondaveedu.
