A small temple in Srikalahasti is steadily gaining popularity as a ‘devotee-friendly’ shrine for its simplified narration of folk tales from the Mahabharata in the form of street plays.
The Draupadi Sametha Dharmaraja temple, part of a group of such shrines found in the countryside across southern Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, sees a large rush of devotees especially during the annual Brahmotsavams that began on July 1 amid much fanfare. The crowds are expected to rise towards the end of the 13-day festival. Though ancient, the temple was acquired and made part of the Srikalahastheeswara Devasthanam in 1961.
The temple has idols of Dharmaraja, Draupadi, Bhimasena, Hidimbasura, Arjuna, Subhadra, Nakula, Anjana, Sahadeva and Nalini, besides the wedding idols (Kalyana Murthy) of Arjuna.
