Ninth century temple flag pole collapses

DRAKSHARAMAM (EAST GODAVARI): On a day when people celebrated Telugu New Year, the Dwajasthambham at the ancient Draksharamam temple collapsed on Friday. While devotees felt it could be a sign of ill omen, priests assured that it was not so as the Dwajasthambham of Kasi Vishwanath temple had crumbled and not that of the main Bhimeshwara Swamy temple inside the famed shrine.
Sources said water had percolated into the foundation and wood of the structure, leading to its decay. “Stagnant water on top of the Dwajasthambham and pests eating away the wood led to the accident,” sources said. The wooden Dwajasthambham was erected on May 5, 1982.
One of the main priests of the 9th century temple, Venkata Subba Rao Acharyulu, said they would perform special pujas and also ‘samprokshana’ (cleansing) to ward off any possible ill-effects. Another priest, not wanting to be named, said though the Dwajasthambham collapsed on three idols of gods and two Nandis, they did not suffer any damage. “This indicates that people do not have to worry about any bad tidings,” he observed.
There was no loss of life or property even as hundreds of devotees queued up to offer prayers to Lord Visweswara Dakshinamurthy on the occasion of Ugadi. The temple, which is famously known as ‘Dakshina Kasi,’ was constructed by East Chalukya king during 881-922 AD. Thousands of devotees visit the temple every year from various parts of the state, Orissa and West Bengal.