Telangana HC stays installation of ‘NTR as Lord Sri Krishna’ statue in Khammam

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Thursday stayed the installation of N T Rama Rao’s statue in the incarnation of Lord Sri Krishna in Khammam. The High Court granted the stay in response to petitions filed by several groups including International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) and Yadav associations who opposed the idea of a NTR statue in Lord Krishna’s avatar.

Hearing these petitions, the Telangana High Court ordered the organisers to not install the statue until further orders. The High Court also issued notices to Telangana Minister Puvvada Ajay and the organisers of the statue installation.

Preparations were being made by the fans of the legendary Telugu actor, Telugu Desam Party patriarch and former chief minister of the combined Andhra pradesh to install his statue at the Lakaram Cheruvu area of Khammam. The 54-feet statue was being specially made in Nizamabad at a cost of Rs 2.3 crores with plans to install it in Khammam on the birth centenary of the actor on May 28, 2023. But their plans to get the NTR statue designed in the incarnation of Lord Sri Krishna raked up an unwarranted controversy.

According to reports, the organisers were planning to rope in Jr NTR, the grandson of the legendary senior actor, to unveil the statue. But all their plans came a cropper with the Telangana High Court ordering a stay on the installation of the statue.