Devotees are not allowed to enter the historic temple.
Access to the historic Gandi Pochamma Temple near the banks of the Godavari River has been limited since Monday, when the river’s level reached the deity’s feet.
The temple is well-known for its belief that devotees who come to get the deity’s darshan would have their desires granted, especially those of childless couples. The temple can be found in the Devipatnam mandal of the Alluri Sitarama Raju district in the village of Gondur. Many plains people as well as tribe members come to the temple to pray.
The temple used to get Hundi collections of about half a crore annually, and according to its officials, the shrine has the capacity to receive even more money. On July 13, the hundi was opened, but there was only a collection of 5.35 lakh. When traveling to Papikondalu, tourists stop at the Gandi Pochammam temple to pray to the goddess Mary. They come from both the plains and the agency.
Locals claim that when the Polavaram project works commenced and the construction of a diaphragm wall and other components was undertaken, the temple began to be impacted by the Godavari floods in the last six years. The water flow was negatively impacted by the works.
The endowments department has proposed building a wall around the temple at an estimated cost of 750 crore to prevent flooding. After visiting a temple in Karnataka that was experiencing flooding similar to that of the Tungabhadra Dam, a team of officials suggested that the AP shrine receive the same protection. The Polavaram Project Authority has brought the plan to higher authorities for funding sanction and design approval, however this has not yet been authorized.
The ASR district endowments deputy commissioner S. Chandra Sekhar said, “The ancient Gandi Pochamma Temple is famous especially among the tribals and tourists. They believe that a touch of the feet of the deity will help fulfill their wishes. We have proposed to devel- op the temple at a cost of 50 crore through PPA.” “The temple has potential to earn even a crore per annum through hundi col- lections,” he said.
Sources say that there is also a proposal to develop a road and other amenities at a cost of ₹250 crore from the upcoming hydro- electric project of Polavaram for the benefit of devotees and tourists visiting the temple.
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