Page:A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas.djvu/133

 Civil and Criminal Administration, these powers being taken by the Government.

Religions. — The first act of the Rajah was to build a temple in the name of his mothers who faithfully sacrificed their lives on the funeral pyre. Statues of the parents (almost life-size) had been prepared and set up in a temple out of reverence and to this day they are worshipped daily and consulted for advice and guidance on important occasions after due invocation. The shrine is called the shrine of Veera Mathalu, which means heroic-mothers, and the Rajahs annually visit the temple on the day before Car Festival, and so forth. The permission of the mothers is also taken on occasions of marriages or long absence from the town. The temple is situated just at the entrance into the town.

Several improvements were also made in the main Viswanatha temple in the town. A new shrine of Swarneswara was set up in