The over 90-year-old Sri Radha Krishan at Taliya Babhandee village in Daltonganj, barely 13 kilometers away from railway station and 16 kilometers away from the Chiyanki air strip, holds huge potential for religious tourism.
At a function held in the premise of this heritage temple on Sunday which was attended by Palamu MP VD Ram, several high profile BJP leaders and Palamu DDC Bindu Madhav Prasad Singh, the temple trust chairman Dr. Raghubansh Narain Singh said, “The local Daltonganj MLA Aloke Chourasia, under whose assembly segment this heritage temple comes, did not show any interest in its renovation and development as a result this heritage site could not make a comeback.”
DDC Palamu Bindu Madhav Prasad Singh said that the site deserves to be a good religious tourist spot and suggested that there should be programmes of mass connectivity to make the place a household name in the district, the state and outside the state.
The trust chairman, Singh, pointed out that the temple and its surroundings suffered the adverse effects of the extremism in Palamu, when extremism was at its peak in the nineties.
He said, “It was after years of struggle that in 2005 the Jharkhand government identified this temple and the site as a probable religious tourism spot but nothing was done for its revival and renovation.”
The State Government gave Rs 41 lakhs which was used to construct two units of toilets and two units of solar light facilities, but thieves managed to steal the solar batteries, thus leading to a demand of boundary wall construction around the premise.
Singh said that there is a proposal to build marriage hall, yatri (tourist) hall and further beautification of the pond in the area. “Palamu administration sent in a proposal worth Rs 1.82 crore to the State Government about three years ago for the beautification and rejuvenation purpose but nothing has been sanctioned yet,” he said. MP V D Ram informed that the State Government is planning to set up ‘Krishan Circuit’, one at Bansidhar Nagar and another at Sri Radha Krishan temple, to promote religious tourism.
He said “As the Government grants Rs 35 lakh for organizing mahotsavas, a programme like that can be arranged at this site to promote tourism.”