Andhra Pradesh: 400-Year Old Lord Ram Idol Beheaded In Ramatheertham

A 400-year-old idol of Lord Ram was beheaded by unidentified individuals at the Sita Lakshmana Kodandarama temple in Andhra Pradesh's Ramatheertham, Deccan Herald has reported.

As per the report, priests on Tuesday morning (29 December) found that the doors of the ancient temples were broken into and the Lord Ram idol in the sanctum sanctorum was desecrated.

The severed portion of the idol was subsequently found inside the temple pond a day later.

"At a time when the construction of Ram Mandir is going on at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, the idol of Lord Ram is destroyed in our state. Separating the head of the idol cannot be an act of an insane person. It is an act of some religious maniacs", Janasena Party chief Pawan Kalyan has been quoted as saying.

Cops probing the matter have formed five teams to investigate the incident. The cops have claimed that they are probing all angles including a possible communal motive.

The Jagan Reddy led state government has come under attack over the incident, with its critics claiming that its indifference towards similar incidents in the past.

It has been reported that, this year a 62-year-old chariot of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple was gutted in fire.

The incident was one in a series of attacks on Hindu temples in the state. A short while ago, in a similar incident, a temple chariot was burnt in a temple in Nellore district. Just this year, there have been multiple incidents of arson, desecration and destruction of Hindu temples in the state.