The 1,465 years Gali Gopuram believed to be constructed by Crimikanta Chola Raju, caves in the early hours of the day. The gopuram of Ksheera Bhavanarayana Swamy temple in Bapatla had been warned of deep fissure along its face. The temple tower has collapsed this morning.

Much to the relief of the public, the temple source claims that there were no causalities as the entrance of the temple was closed since Thursday for taking up repairs of the gopuram as it was in a precarious condition. According to sources, the Endowments Department had sent a report to the government about six months ago. The government, as usual, sat on the report without any action. Devotees, local public representatives and even journalists have been agitating over the condition of the tower for the last three years.

But to the dismay of the devotees the tower caved in before the engineering experts from Bangalore could attend to it. Rajya Sabha MP J S Seelam and former Endowments Minister and MLA Gade Venkata Reddy visited the spot. Beyond explanation to logic the town experienced thick cloud formation, within minutes of the collapse and heavy rain followed. Devotees suspect bad omen over the entire issue and want officials to take up stringent measures and make the staff accountable.

Among the many forms and names of Lord Vishnu, Bhavanarayana Swami is another name. Earlier, the 136-foot 'Rajagopuram' of the Srikalahasti Temple in Chittoor district had crashed on May 26, 2010.