Andhra Pradesh is preparing to build a temple for Lord Krishna gold at Fort Kondaveedu in Guntur. The temple was built at a cost of Rs 500 crore by ISKCON. Apart from the temple, the stronger will be used to build a municipality to promote spiritual tourism. The town will host an international school, medical center, pavilions displaying the Ramayana and Mahabharata, cow college and make presentations highlighting Krishna Lila, Lila Chaitanya, Bhagavad Gita
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will build a unique golden Lord Krishna temple near Fort Kondaveedu a fund of Rs 500 million rupees. This is the first of its kind, golden temple in southern India.
Back in 1998, an idol of the 13th century young Krishna butter holding in one hand and a boat was unearthed another. As such, the idol was named Venna Mudda Gopaludu (Butter Lord Krishna). Archaeologists traced the idol carved during the reign of King Krishnadevaraya.
Kondaveedu Fort was a base for the Reddy kings in the 13th century Then these kings were conquered by Krishnadevaraya, the powerful Emperor of the Empire Vijaya Nagar. The king was a staunch devotee of Lord Balaji who built the present temple Tirumala Balaji. One night he had a dream in Lord Krishna asked the king to build a temple for him. So the king Venna Gopaludu idol installed at the fort.
Over the years, however fortress lost its charm as it remained neglected. It was not until ISKCON and Kondaveedu Heritage Revival Society joined in 2010 for this project, the strong regained prominence. Local, with the support of the then district collector Guntur Ramanjeneyulu ISKCON guests to take on the project. The company decided to turn the fortress into a pilgrim international destination promoting spiritual ecotourism.
The Golden Temple will come up on 150 hectares and will be completed in three stages. It will be like a municipality, which will house an international school, medical center, pavilions displaying the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Vedic school education, a theme park using religion and cow shelter. It will also showcase the history of the fort and will exhibit highlighting Krishna Lila, Lila Chaitanya, the Bhagavad Gita and an exhibition of spiritual science of Vedic cosmology.
Satyagopinath Das, president and project manager of the Golden Temple ISKCON South India, said the ISKCON has planned to promote spiritual heritage through Spiritual Heritage Revival Project Iskcon-Kondaveedu (IKSHR). It will create a comprehensive spiritual area attraction in the area.
The project was completed in three phases and the Gosala (center cow protection) and a cow college was started in Kondaveedu "he said.
