Hyderabad: Telangana's Chief Minister Sri K Chandrashekhar Rao along with his wife reached Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) on Tuesday to fulfill his vows at Lord Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Tirumala.
He will have a darshan of Lord Venkateswara Swamy at 8 am on Wednesday, where he will offer gold ornaments worth Rs 5 crore to the deity on behalf of Telangana government.
Hundreds of KCR fans arrived at the airport and the CM was accorded a grand welcome amidst Vedic chants.
Rao is visiting Tirumala for the first time after bifurcation of the state.
The gold ornaments include 14.20 kg Saligram necklace costing about Rs 3.70 crore and 4.65 kg Kanta Abharanam costing Rs 1.20 crore.
The chief minister had vowed to present gold ornaments to various deities if separate state of Telangana was achieved.
He will also visit Tiruchanur and have darshan of presiding deity Sri Padmavathy Ammavaru and present a nose stud to the Goddess. Apart from Rs 5 crore for Lord Venkateshwara Swamy, Rs 59 lakh was sanctioned for other deities.
TTD EO Sambhasiva Rao said, "Only emperors and kings like Sri Krishnadeveraya and Mysore Maharaja donated ornaments to the Lord in the past. A new era has begun with Telangana government offering gifts to the Lord".
In October 2016, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had presented a gold crown worth Rs 3.5 crore to Goddess Bhadrakali in Warangal. It weighed 11.7 kg.
In coming days, he is expected to visit Veerabhadra Swamy temple in Warangal to present "Golden Moustaches" to the Lord.
The Opposition had criticised the move when government orders were issued and questions were raised on spending crores of rupees from the state exchequer for fulfilling personal pledge.
Recently, Chief Minister KCR raised controversy when he shifted to new residence - a 9 acre palatial house whic was built at a cost of about Rs 50 crore.
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