Hyderabad, February 27 M V Soundararajan, the chief priest of the famous Lord Balaji temple in Chilkur, located on the outskirts of the city, who was also a successful administrator at Osmania University (OU), died here on Friday.
He was 90 years old.
Soundararajan passed away at his residence in Chilkur village due to age-related health issues, according to family sources.
He was awarded the Best Teacher award by the undivided Andhra Pradesh government in 1981.
During his distinguished career, he also served as the Registrar of OU.
Soundararajan, who possessed extensive knowledge and experience in managing Hindu religious institutions, served as the president of Telangana Archaka Samakhya and the Vice President of Andhra Pradesh Archaka Samakhya.
He was the convener of the Temple Protection Movement in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, RSS Telangana Prant Sanghchalak Barla Sundar Reddy, and several other leaders expressed their condolences on the demise of Soundararajan.
In his condolence message, Revanth Reddy said that Soundararajan, who distinguished himself as a teacher and administrator at OU, also promoted spiritual awareness in the society.
Naidu, in a post on X, said that Soundararajan's efforts to protect temple traditions and autonomy would be remembered forever.
Kishan Reddy said that Soundararajan fought against caste discrimination and also to protect the rights of 'archakas' (priests).
He also mentioned that when the Congress government tried to take control of the Chilkur temple in 2008, Soundararajan boldly resisted it and ensured that devotees were given priority.
Chandrasekhar Rao said that Soundararajan, who gave importance to social values, was a "people's priest".