GUNTUR: A key moment in the history of the new separated Andhra Pradesh. The capital city work was symbolically started by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at precisely 8.49 am on Saturday.
If everything goes according to the plan Amaravathi will become the India’s third planned city. The first two being Gandhinagar and Naya Raipur.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by his wife Bhuvaneswari to perform the Bhoomi puja on a 40-acre plot in Tallayapalem. The ritualistic procedure started at 3 am with Vigneswara and other pujas, while a Shanti homam was performed to avert any hurdles in the construction of the new capital.
A gold-plated trowel and a silver crest( to carry cement) weighing 1 KG have been specially made for Mr Naidu to use during the rituals.
A total of 19 Vedic priests took part in the Shanti homam, which was performed in a separate enclosure near Survey No. 136. The state officials have already arranged for a cow and a calf for the rituals. Priests said that the first ritual would be sthala shuddhi (to cleanse the land), and then punya vachanam would be performed.
The Boomipuja laid a land mark for the farmers to submit their lands to CRDA after signing the agreements. So far, the CRDA collected 33,600 acres of farmland from the farmers of the capital region. But still some farmers are showing hesitancy in going through with the land pooling process.
