Visakhapatnam: Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswati Swami, the pontiff of the Sarada Peetham here, lauded the Andhra Pradesh Government and expressed happiness over the establishment of the AP Dharmika Parishad and the inclusion of additional temples for the Dhoopa, Deepa and Naivedyam rituals.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Swaroopanandendra Saraswati said that this is the first time that the Dharmika Parishad has been formed after the bifurcation of the State. He also hoped that the formation of Dharmika Parishad would benefit all the temples in Andhra Pradesh state.

He said that the representatives of Dharmika Parishad should be instructed to take up Dharmic programs in the state and also said that it was appropriate to include Mathadhipathis, Agama pandits, and donors as representatives in the 21-member Dharmika Parishad.

The pontiff also expressed happiness over the selection of another 2,200 temples under Dhoopa, Deepa Naivedyam scheme. He reminded that the late chief minister of erstwhile AP Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy had introduced this scheme as per his suggestions. He also appreciated the fact that he had suggested several measures to the Endowments Minister Kottu Satyanarayana, Principal Secretary Anil Kumar Singhal, and Endowments Commissioner Hari Jawaharlal, who came to meet him recently in Rishikesh during his Chaturmasya Deeksha, which were also implemented.

The State government issued orders constituting the Andhra Pradesh Dharmika Parishad on Tuesday. After the orders were issued, the Endowments Minister in a press meet said that the committee was established for the protection of Hindu Dharma. He said that AP Government will take steps to implement the scheme of offering Dhoopa Deepa Naivedyam in one temple per village and all the district officials have been requested to examine the applications from various temples for this purpose. The AP Government has taken the responsibility of protecting Hindu temples in every village and would ask the AP high court to allocate eight court Amins to resolve all issues related to Endowments and temples lands at the earliest, he said.

Also Read: AP Government Issues Orders For Constitution of 21-member Dharmika Parishad Committee