Some Temples of Krishna District

                                                     
                This time we were able to grab the god’s grace in Krishna District by visiting the following temples. Happy to know that many of them are Swayambhu.
   
Muvva : Popularly known as Movva, this place is the birth place of the famous poet Kshetrayya, who wrote many songs on Venugopala Swamy. As Varadayya (Kshetrayya) spent later part of his life in Tamilnadu, his verses are more famous there.

                                   

  
 As the sthala puranam says, the "muvva" of Lord Sri Krishna's anklet fell down here in this place. During the time of Dwapara yuga, on one Karthika poornima day, while Radha and Krishna were dancing in ecstacy, the 'muvva' of Krishna's anklet fell down here in this place. Then Lord ordered sage Narada to search for it but He couldn't locate it. So Narada did severe penance and Lord appeared in a very bright light exactly in the place where it dropped. Narada got the idol of the Lord made by Devendra exactly the way he got Darshan and did Prana pratishtha.
      The actual muvva which dropped down, reborn as Moudgalya, did penance for the Lord. On the day of Magha Poornima, Swami appeared here as Swayambhu Muvva Gopala and before dawn, Devathas finished building the temple for the Lord there. As the Lord descended there due to Moudgalya, He was called Mouvva Gopala, later transformed as Movva Gopala.
                              

This is the actual idol, but as it got damaged, a new idol was installed and the Shakti in this idol was transferred into the new one(Aavahana).

The consort of the Lord here is Goddess Rajya laxmi devi.

Ghantasala: As directed by the pujari in Movva temple, our next stop was at Ghantasala, hosting the temple of  Shiva called as Jaldhiswara Swami and Goddess Balaparvathi Devi. The speciality here is that both the Lord and the Goddess appear on the same platform, Panavattam. This happens nowhere in any temple.

Salient features of the temple:

• It is the only temple in the world to have lords Siva and Parvati on a single peetam.
• According to the temple history, the peetam was placed by Agastya maharshi.
• Nandeeshwara is more beautiful and realistic in this temple.
• This temple darshan has the same pious (punya phalam) effect equivalent to Darshanam of Dwadasa jyotirlingams (12) and Astadasa Shakti Peetams (18) due to the placement of Siva and Parvati on a single peetam.
• The devotees believe that jaladeeshwara abhisheka theertham is a cure for many diseases.

Sikakulam: This place has the temple of Lord Vishnu popularly called as Srikakulandhra Sri Maha Vishnu.
                             

   It is he place where Srikrishna Devaraya dedicated his literary work Amukta malyada to the Lord. There is also one mantapa build here in this memory.

Chilakalapudi: This place is famous for its Swayambhu Panduranga Devasthanam. one can get the full information about the temple @ http://sripandurangatemple.com/aboutUs.html
                                     

Mopidevi: This is a Swayambhu Subrahmanya Kshetra where the Lord Subrahmanya took the form of a Shivalinga to bless the mankind.
    According to a legend, the Lingam is a self manifested (Swayambhu) one. Veerarapu Parvathalu was a potter, who was a great devotee. Pleased with his devotion the Lord once came in his dream and asked him to dig up the anthill to find his Lingam in the village of Mopidevi. Parvathalu told about his dream to the villagers and dug up the anthill at the place indicated in his dream. Surprisingly, they found the Lingam which was placed on the anthill and they began to worship. He prepared the idols of Horse, Nandi, Cock and Garutmanthudu which are very dear to Subramanya Swamy with clay. He also prepared the idols of great Rishis with clay. He prepared the idols and baked them in the Bhatti in such a fashion that they never lost their original forms.
                                  
                                          
       Sri Subrahmanyeswar Swamy Temple Timings: 04.00 am to 12.30 pm and 02.00 pm to 08.30 pm.
  
                              Our next stop was at Chandolu, about which I mentioned in detail in a special post.

Sri Tadepalli raghava narayana Sastry gari sannidhi

                    బ్రహ్మ శ్రీ తాడేపల్లి రాఘవ నారాయణ శాస్త్రి గారు ప్రముఖ శ్రీవిద్యా ఉపాసకులు. వారి స్వగ్రామం కృష్ణా జిల్లాలోని చందవోలు. శ్రీ చాగంటి కోటేశ్వరరావు గారు మరియు శ్రీ సామవేదం షణ్ముఖ శర్మ గార్ల ప్రవచనాలలో వారి గురించి విని వారు నివసించిన ఇంటిని దర్శించాలనే కోరిక బలంగా కలిగింది. ఇన్నాళ్ళకి అమ్మ వారి అనుగ్రహంగా ఆ అవకాశం దొరికింది.
                                                   

       కాకినాడ నుండి బెంగుళూరు వెళుతుండగా దారిలో ఉన్న క్షేత్రాలు దర్శించుకుంటూ మోపిదేవి అనే సుబ్రహ్మణ్య క్షేత్రం నుంచి చందవోలు గ్రామం చేరుకున్నాం. ఊరి మొదట్లోనే ఉన్న చందవోలు అనే బోర్డు ప్రక్కనే వారు నివసించిన ఇల్లు ఉంది. ఇంటి ప్రక్కనే వారి పేరు మీద ఉన్న వేద పాఠశాల కూడా ఉంది. ఊరిలోని వారికి చందోలు శాస్త్రి గారుగా వారు సుపరిచితులు.
                ఇంట్లోకి వెళుతూనే అమ్మవారి స్వరూపమైన ఒక నిండు ముత్తైదువ ఎదురొచ్చారు. వారు శ్రీ శాస్త్రి గారి కోడలు. మేము శాస్త్రి గారి ఇల్లు చూద్దామని వచ్చామని చెబితే ఆవిడ లోపలికి వెళ్ళి ఒకాయనను పిలిచారు. ఆయన శాస్త్రి గారి అబ్బాయట. వారి వయసు సుమారు 75-80 మధ్యలో ఉండి ఉండవచ్చు. వారు కూడా చూడగానే నమస్కరించాలనిపించేలా ఉన్నారు. మేము శాస్త్రి గారి గురించి విని ఆ ఇల్లు చూడాలని వచ్చామని చెప్పాక ఆవిడ లోపలికి వెళ్ళిపోయారు. ఆయన అక్కడే ఉన్న పడక కుర్చీలో కూర్చున్నారు. మేము ఎక్కడి నుంచి వచ్చామో వివరాలు కనుక్కున్నారు. తరువాత సంభాషణ ఇలా జరిగింది:
మీరు శాస్త్రిగారి కుమారులాండీ?
అవును
వారి గురించి కొంచం చెబుతారా
మీరు ప్రవచనంలో వినలేదా?
కొడుకుగా మీ మాటల్లో విందామని అడిగాము.
కొంచం సేపు ఆయన ఏమీ మాట్లాడలేదు. నేను "మాకు ఈ ఇల్లు చూడాలని ఎప్పటి నుంచో కోరిక ఉంది కానీ ఇన్నాళ్ళకి అమ్మవారి అనుగ్రహంగా కుదిరింది" అన్నాను. "మంచిది" అన్నారాయన.
మరలా కాసేపు మౌనంగానే ఉన్నారాయన. నాకు ఏమి మాట్లాడాలో తెలియలేదు.
అంతకు ముందే విన్న చాగంటి కోటేశ్వరరావు గారి ప్రవచనం గుర్తుకు వచ్చి "వారు ప్రతిష్ఠించిన బాలాత్రిపుర సుందరీ అమ్మవారి మందిరం ఎక్కడ ఉందండీ" అని అడిగాను. "తెనాలిలో గంగానమ్మ గుడి దగ్గరలో ఉంది. వారు నిత్యం అనుష్ఠానం చేసుకున్న పీఠం మాత్రం ఇక్కడే ఉంది. దాని ఆరాధన ఇప్పుడు మేము చేసుకుంటున్నాము. ఈ ప్రక్కనే ఉంది. వెళ్ళి చూసి రావచ్చు" అన్నారు. వారు కొంచం ముభావంగా ఉండడంతో ఆ సమయంలో వెళ్ళి వారిని ఇబ్బంది పెట్టామా అనే భావం కూడా రాకపోలేదు. సరే చూద్దాంలే అని ఆ అమ్మవారికే చెప్పుకుందాంలే అని లేచి ప్రక్కనే ఉన్న పూజా గది దగ్గరికి వెళ్ళాము. అక్కడ కొంతమంది పిల్లలు వేదం చదువుకుంటున్నారు. అక్కడి పీఠానికి నమస్కారం చేసుకుని కొన్ని ఫొటోలు తీసుకుని మళ్ళీ వీరి దగ్గరికి వచ్చాము. ఈ సారి మాట్లాడడం మొదలు పెట్టిన వారు సుమారు ఒక గంట సేపు చాలా హాయిగా మాట్లాడారు. మధ్యలో నేను, వారు వ్రాసిన పుస్తకాలు ఏమైనా దొరుకుతాయా అని అడిగితే ఒక 4 పుస్తకాలు అక్కడి అల్మరాలోంచి తీసి ఇచ్చారు. వారి మాటలను ఈ క్రింద పొందుపరుస్తున్నాను:
                     వారు చాలా గొప్ప తపశ్శక్తి సంపన్నులు. ఆ తపస్సు ఈ ఒక్క జన్మలోనిది కాదు. ఎన్నెన్నో జన్మలలో చేసిన తపస్సంతా కలిసి ఆయన ఆ స్థితిలో ఉండేవారు. దేవతా శక్తులన్నీ వారి చుట్టూ ఎప్పుడూ తిరుగుతూ ఉండేవి. అన్ని దైవ శక్తులు ఎల్లప్పుడూ వారి అధీనంలో ఉండేవి. కానీ వారెన్నడూ వాటిని తన స్వార్థానికి వినియోగించుకోలేదు. అమ్మవారు వారిని అనేక సార్లు "నీకు ఏమి కావాలో చెప్పు. ఐశ్వర్యం, చక్రవర్తిత్వం, దాసదాసీలు, ఏనుగులు, సంపదలు, కీర్తి ఏమి కావాలన్నా ప్రసాదిస్తాను కోరుకో" అనేది. వారు "నువ్వే నాతో ఉన్నప్పుడు అవన్నీ నాకెందుకమ్మా" అనేవారు. పూర్తి నిష్కామంగా జీవితమంతా గడిపారు.
                               ఒక సారి యమ ధర్మరాజు వారి వద్దకు వచ్చి ధర్మం చెప్పమని అడిగారట. వారు యమునితో "మీరే ధర్మానికి అధిదేవత కదా!నేను మీకు ధర్మం చెప్పడమేమిటి?" అని విస్తుపోయారట. కానీ యముడు "నేను ధర్మంలో వచ్చిన సందేహాలను తీర్చుకోవడం కోసం ఎందరినో కలిసాను. శివుడు, విష్ణువు, దేవతలు అందరినీ కలిసాను కానీ మీరు చెప్పినదే అంతిమంగా అసలైన ధర్మమని మీ వద్దకు వచ్చాను" అన్నారు. వారు యమునితో "నేను ఏమి చెప్పినా శాస్త్రబద్ధంగానే చెబుతాను. నా స్వంత అభిప్రాయాలు ఏవీ చెప్పను. కనుక మీ సందేహాలను అడగండి" అని వారి సంశయాలన్నింటికీ శాస్త్ర ప్రకారం, వేద ప్రమాణంగానూ సమాధానాలను ఇచ్చారు. అంతటి స్థితి వారిది.
             వారు ఆయుర్వేద వైద్యం చేసేవారు. దాని అధ్యయనంలో భాగంగా వారికి ఒక మూలిక గురించి తెలిసింది. అది కేవలం గ్రహణ సమయంలో మాత్రమే కంటికి కనిపించే మూలిక. అది కూడా ఒక నిర్ణీత స్థలంలో మాత్రమే లభ్యమవుతుంది. ఈ విషయం తెలుసుకున్న శాస్త్రి గారు అది దగ్గరలోని ఒక కొండ మీద లభిస్తుందని తెలుసుకుని ఒక గ్రహణ సమయానికి ఆ కొండ మీదకి వెళ్ళారు. (వారు ఆ కొండ పేరు చెప్పారు కానీ నాకు గుర్తు లేదు) సరిగ్గా గ్రహణం ఆరంభం కాగానే ఆ మూలిక వారికి కనిపించింది. పరమానందంతో వారు దానిని సమీపించి కోసుకోబోతుండగా అక్కడ ఒక చిన్న పిల్లవాడు అడ్డు వచ్చాడు. సరేలే అని వారు వేరే వైపు నుంచి వచ్చి దానిని కోసుకుందామనుకుంటే ఆ పిల్లవాడు ఆ వైపు కూడా అడ్డు వచ్చాడు. అలా ఏ వైపు చూస్తే ఆ వైపు ఆ పిల్లవాడు అడ్డు వస్తుండడంతో వారికి ఆ మూలిక కోసుకోవడం కుదరడం లేదు. ఇక విసిగిపోయిన వారు "ఎవడవురా నువ్వు? నాకెందుకు అడ్డు వస్తున్నావు? నన్ను ఆ మూలిక కోసుకోనీ. మరల గ్రహణం అయిపోతే అది కనిపించదు" అన్నారట. ఆ పిల్లవాడు "నేనెవరైతే నీకెందుకు? నీకు ఆ మూలిక ఎందుకు?" అని ప్రశ్నించాడు. "ఆ మూలిక మన దగ్గర ఉంటే మనకు విశ్వమంతా వశమవుతుందట. కనుక నన్ను దానిని తీసుకోనీ" అని శాస్త్రి గారన్నారు. దానికి అ పిల్లవాడు నవ్వి "ఆ మూలిక లేకుండానే నీకు విశ్వం వశమైందిగా" అన్నాడట. శాస్త్రి గారు "అదంతా నీకెందుకు? ముందు అడ్డు తొలగు. మరల గ్రహణం అయిపోతే నాకు అవకాశం చేజారిపోతుంది" అని కోరారు. కానీ పిల్లవాడు ఒప్పుకోలేదు. ఈ లోగా గ్రహణం పూర్తయిపోయింది, ఆ మూలిక మాయమైపోయింది. శాస్త్రి గారు నిట్టూరుస్తూ ఉండగా ఆ పిల్లవాడు మూడు ముఖాలతో దత్తాత్రేయ స్వామిగా దర్శనమిచ్చాడు. కారణం ఆ మూలికకు అధిదేవత దత్తాత్రేయస్వామి.
                              వీరు వేరే గ్రామంలో అధ్యయనం నిమిత్తం కొన్ని రోజులు ఉన్నప్పుడు ఒక సారి ఒక 6-7 యేళ్ళ పిల్లవాడు వీరిని చూచి "మనిద్దరం కలిసి ఫలానా కొండ మీద 20 సంవత్సరాలు తపస్సు చేసుకున్నాం కదా! గుర్తు లేదా?" అని అడిగాడట. వీరికేమీ అర్థం కాక ఏ కొండ మీద, ఎప్పుడు, ఎవరు అని ఏదో అడుగబోతుండగా ఆ పిల్లవాడు పారిపోయాడట. అంటే వాడు ఏ జన్మలో వారి తపస్సాహచర్యం పొందిన మహా భాగ్యశాలియో కదా! 
            తెనాలిలో ఉండే చంద్రమౌళీశ్వర శాస్త్రి గారు వీరికి, కంచి పరమాచార్యకు శిష్యులు. వీరు బ్రాహ్మీభూతులైన తరువాత ఒక సారి వారికి ఈ క్రింది స్వప్నం వచ్చిందట. శాస్త్రి గారు ఒక సారి నరక లోకం ఎలా ఉంటుందో చూద్దామని వెళ్ళారట. అక్కడ ఒక పెద్ద బాణలిలో ఏదో బాగా కాగుతూండడం చూచారు. అదేమిటా అని తొంగి చూస్తే నూనె సల సల కాగుతుండగా ఎంతోమంది పాపులు దానిలో తమ పాపాలకు శిక్ష అనుభవిస్తున్నారు. అయ్యో అని వీరు దానిలోకి చూస్తుండగా వారి నుదుట ఉన్న బొట్టులోని చిన్న గంధం పిసరు అణు మాత్రం ఆ నూనెలో పడింది. వెంటనే సల సల కాగే ఆ నూనె చల్లబడిపోయి దానిలోని పాపులందరికీ పాప పరిహారమైపోయి వారంతా ఆనందంగా పైకి వచ్చేసారట. అది చూచి యమధర్మ రాజు కంగారు పడి, "ఎవరయ్యా ఆయనను ఇక్కడకు తీసుకు వచ్చింది? ఆయనను ఏ స్వర్గానికో తీసుకుపోవాలి కానీ ఇక్కడకు తీసుకు వస్తే ఇక ఇక్కడ మన పనేం కాను? వెంటనే వారిని ఇక్కడి నుంచి తీసుకుపోండి" అని ఆజ్ఞాపించారట. వారు ధరించిన అణుమాత్ర చందనానికే అంతటి పాపాన్ని పోగొట్టగలిగిన శక్తి వచ్చిందంటే, ఇక వారి శరీరమంతా అణువణువూ ఎంత తపశ్శక్తితో నిండి ఉండి ఉంటుందో కదా! 
           వీరి ధర్మ పత్ని గారు కూడా వీరితో ఈడు జోడైన తపస్సంపన్నులు. వీరు బ్రాహ్మీ భూతులవడానికి 5 సంవత్సరాల ముందే అంటే 1985 లో ఆవిడ స్వర్గస్తులయ్యారు. ఆవిడ కూడా ఎప్పుడూ భగవన్నామం వ్రాసుకుంటూ, పాటలు పాడుకుంటూ వీరి తపస్సుకు సహకరిస్తూ ఉండేవారు. ఆవిడే స్వయంగా కొన్ని పాటలు కూడా వ్రాసేవారట. 
           తల్లి గారి గురించి చెబుతుండగానే వారి అబ్బాయి ఇలా చెప్పారు" నేను వారి సోదరుని కుమారుడిని.  వారు నాకు పెదనాన్నగారు. కానీ నా 7వ యేట నుంచీ నేను వారితోనే ఉన్నాను. వారికి కొంతమంది సంతానం కలిగారు కానీ నష్టపోయారు. ఒక కుమార్తె మాత్రం ఉన్నారు" అని చెప్పారు.
       వారు మాతో ఇంకా ఇలా అన్నారు: "శాస్త్రిగారికి ఈ శక్తంతా వారి తపస్సు వల్ల వచ్చింది. అది ఒక్క జన్మలో సాధ్యమయ్యేది కాదు. ఎన్నో జన్మలు సాధన చేస్తే గానీ ఆ స్థితిని చేరుకోలేం. కనుకనే మనమందరం కూడా నిత్యం ఏదో ఒక రూపంలో తపస్సు అంటే భగవదారాధన చేస్తూనే ఉండాలి. అప్పుడే జన్మ సార్థకమవుతుంది. నిత్యం మనం ఏమి తింటున్నా అది భగవంతునికి అర్పించి తింటే అది మహా ప్రసాదమవుతుంది. పురుష ప్రయత్నంగా మన ధర్మం నెరవేరుస్తూ మన తపస్సు కొనసాగిస్తూ ఉంటే తప్పక భగవదనుగ్రహం కలిగి మంచి స్థితిని చేరుకోగలం.
              వారి మాటల ద్వారా వారు జ్యోతిష శాస్త్రంలో కూడా ప్రవీణులని అర్థమయ్యింది. తరువాత వారు మా కుటుంబం గురించి కొంత అడిగి, వారి భార్యను పిలిచి నాకు కుంకుమ ఇమ్మన్నారు. ఆవిడ నాకు బొట్టు, పండు ఇవ్వగా, మేము వారికిరువురికీ దూరం నుంచే నమస్కరించుకున్నాం. వారు మమ్మల్ని ఆశీర్వదించి పంపారు. మనసంతా అంతులేని సంతోషంతో నింపుకుని మరల మరల ఆ పరిసరాలంతా చూస్తూ నమస్కరించుకుంటూ వెనుతిరిగి వచ్చాము.
      ఇంతటి అవకాశాన్ని ఇచ్చి అనుగ్రహించిన అమ్మవారి కృపకు జన్మంతా కృతజ్ఞులమై ఉండేటట్లుగా కూడా ఆ అమ్మవారే అనుగ్రహించాలని కోరుకుంటున్నాము.
    ఆ పరిసరాలలో తీసిన కొన్ని ఫొటోలు ఇక్కడ ఉంచడం ద్వారా మీరు కూడా ఆ సన్నిధిలో ఉన్న భావనను పొంది ఆనందంచగలరని ఆశిస్తున్నాను.
                       

 మమ్మల్ని అనుగ్రహించి ఆ మహాపురుషుని గురించి వివరించింది ఈ పుణ్య దంపతులే .

 వారు ఉపయోగించిన పడక కుర్చీ...దాని తపస్సేమో...ఆ మహా పురుషునికి అంతటి సేవ చేసుకోగలిగింది...వారి ఆసనమై తరించింది....

                         

                  

Temples of East Godavari District, Andhra pradesh

During this vacation, we were blessed to cover few famous temples of Andhra Pradesh about which I’m going to give a brief description.

In East Godavari District, we visited the following temples this time:

Bikkavolu:

 Swayambhu vinayaka temple and swayambhu Subrahmanyeswara temple

               The idol of Lord Ganesha in the temple is believed to grow in size. People generally go to the idol and whisper their wish in swami’s ear so that the wish will be fulfilled.

 The other temple in Bikkavolu is of Sri Subrahmanyeswara swami located in the Golingeswara Shiva temple. The swami here is Kumara Subrahmanya swami. We can see the anthill here where the Lord comes every day in the form of a snake to aceept the milk prasada offered. Even the size of the anthill remains the same, though the puttamannu is taken to be offered as prasadam.

Gollalamamidada: This place is located at 4 KM from Bikkavolu. This village hosts temples of Lord Rama and Surya Narayana murthy.

The Ramalayam is a beautiful temple where one can go to the top of the gopuram on steps. The Addala mantapam in this temple is a must see spot.

The Surya Narayana temple is one of its kind since swami here is worshipped as Vishnu swaroopa. Suryanarayana swami is worshipped in Aasavalli of Srikakulam district as siva swaroopa and and as brahma swaroopa in Konark temple, as Sun God is believed to be Trimurthy swarupa.

Pithapuram:

       This place is now-a-days attracting many pilgrims from maharastra, as its importance is mentioned in Sri Guru Charitra. People flock here to get the darshan of Sripada Srivallabha Janma sthana at the Sansthan located in Venugopala swami temple street. Go pooja is performed here everyday at 8 am.

Swayambhu Dattatreya swami is present in the famous Kukkuteswara swami temple which also hosts one of the Asta Dasa Shakthi peethas namely Puruhutika Amman. This is also known as Pada gaya, sacred for offering of pinda pradana to pitru devatha. This is believed to be equally powerful as offering in Gaya.

Kunti Madhava swami temple is one of the Pancha(5) Madhava temples belonging to Vaishnava tradition. The other 4 being, Bindu Madhava in Kasi, venu Madhava in Prayaga, Sundara Madhava in Kerala and Setu Madhava in Rameswaram.

Sthala puranam: Veda Vyas Maharshi has been to pitapuram, to visit the Kukuteswara Swamy Temple, later he came to Madhava Temple. He has seen on his Divya Drushti to find the history of this temple. He told that, this temple was established and built by "Lord Indra" and it was worshipped by Sri Rama in Treta Yuga (In the time of Vanavas) and Kunthi, Pandavas in Dwapara Yuga. Mainly Kunthi Maha Devi has performed lot of poojas in this temple. From then onwards this Madhava Temple is known as Kunthi Madhava Kshetra. From that day onwards the temple has recognized as Kunthi Madhava Swamy Temple.

Peddapuram : This place is famous for the temple of Goddess Maridamma. People visit this temple in larger crowd especially during the month of Aashadha. The very huge idol of the goddess is really stunning. Sri Chaganti Koteswara rao garu mentions about this Goddess many times in His discourses.

Samalkot:  Hosting one of the Pancharama Shiva temples, Samalkot is a very powerful place nearby Kakinada. It is called Kumararamam, hosting Kumara Bhimeswara Swami and Goddess Bala Tripurasundari. According to legend, the sivalinga at the temple place was installed and established by Lord Kumara Swami.

    The temple is 1 kilometer from Samarlakota City. The limestone Linga, installed in the shrine, is 16 feet tall that it rises from the pedestal on the ground floor and enters the second floor by piercing the roof, where the Rudrabhaga is worshipped. The temple has a mandapam that is supported by 100 pillars and is of great architectural importance. The temple has an Ekasila Nandi (A Bull carved from a single stone) guarding the Shiva Lingam at the entrance of the temple. The temple resembles the other Pancharama temple at Draksharama which is also called Bhimeswara Alayam. During Tarakasura vadha, the Shiva Linga which was in the throat of Tarakasura broke into five pieces and one of the pieces fell here. Thereafter, it came to be known as Kumararama. Lord Bhimeswara Swamy was installed by Kumara Swamy (son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati) and hence the temple is called KumaraRama. This temple was built in Dravidian style, by the King Chalukya Bhima. Hence the name is Bhimeswara.

Chollangi: This village has a famous Anjaneya temple and nearby to that, there is Someswara temple. The Shiva linga in this temple is installed by moon thus deriving its name Someswara. In the Hanuman temple, the pujari stays in adjacent house, so one can visit that at any time.

Ryali: the temple of Jaganmohini Kesava Swami and Uma Kamandaleswara Swami are very famous in this place. These two temples are located exactly opposite to each other.

Sthala puranam: Ryali" in telugu means falling. According to the legend "Bhagavatam" the Devatas and Rakshas were quarrelling over sharing of holy Devine nectar.Seeing this, "Sri Maha Vishnu" came to the rescue of Devatas in the guise of Mohini (a beautiful woman) and convinced both the rivalry groups promising to distribute holy Devine nectar in equal share to Devatas and Rakshas. But in the interest of universal peace the Devine nectar was distributed among Devatas alone and after which Mohini disappeared. Lord Siva happened to see the fascinating beauty of Mohini. He chased her for getting for a while in the presence of his consort Parvathi Devi. As he was chasing her, flower from the plait of Mohini fell down and was smelt by Lord Siva. He surprisingly found "Sree Maha Vishnu" in the form of Mohini and felt shy for his behavior. The place where the flower from the plait of Mohini fell was named as RYALI. 

                                       

                                               

      

   The Ryali temple is known as Lord JaganMohini Keshava Swamy temple. The temple’s art and architecture are very unique. But the most unique feature of this temple is the idol of the presiding deity which 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide and has been beautifully and gracefully carved out of a single black saligrama stone which portrays Keshava Swamy, on the front and the back side of the stone portrays JaganMohini, a lovely and attractive woman. This idol has been carved skillfully to evoke respect and adoration in the minds of the devotees. Lord Maha Vishnu who is shown here in the form of Keshava Swamy has four hands. He is shown holding "Shankha" (conch) and "Chakra" (disc) in two hands while the other two hands hold "Gadha" and "Manthara" mountain. Opposite this temple, is the temple of Lord Shiva in the form of Sri Umakamandaleswaraswami. Lord Brahma created a Lingam & performed abhishekam with water from his kamandalam & henceforth Lord Siva is being worshipped here as Sri Umakamandaleswaraswami. Along with Sri Maha Vishnu with his conch & discuss are carved the forms Sridevi, Boodevi, Saint Narada and his thumbura, Ramba, Oorvasi, Kinnara, Kimpurusha, Govardhana Krishna, Adi Shesha (the serpant), Garuda & Ganga devi. Water keeps sprouting from the underground at the idol's feet. This water wets the the flowers at the Lord's feet & the water from these flowers is sprinkled on devotees. There is also a separate shrine for Sri Sathya Narayana Swamy along with Sri Lakshmi Devi.

Vadapalli: The temple of Lord Venkateswara swami here is very famous. People visit this temple continuously for 7 Saturdays to fulfil their wishes, thus giving the Lord the name “Edu varala venknna”. Every year Sri Swamy Vari Thirtham holds an annual ceremony. Bhramostavam is performed on a grand scale. The Bhramostavam is celebrated for 10 days.
                                                     

Unexpectedly, to Odisha....

        This time, the Anniversary tour was totally unplanned, but the vacation of 2 weeks was confirmed in the end moment. The  ill-health of Sreeram's grandmother obviously dragged us to home town Kakinada. Thus the undecided tour started towards the very regular route to Kakinada with a lunch break at Nellore on 17th of October, Saturday. By night 9, we were at home. The next day was almost like a get together of relatives, who came to see Grandmother. The 3rd day, on 19th, we decided to cover few places in Odisha, so that we can come back home to stay few more days with parents.
                          The evening of 19th, we started our journey, my parents accompanying us, and halted at Vizag. On the way, Sreeram took a sudden diversion towards Annavaram, the abode of Lord Satyanarayana swami and the Darshan was fantastic, boosting our spirit for the further, totally new journey.
                 The next morning, the tour continued with darshan of Lord Surya narayana swamy in Arasavalli and Kurma natha swami in Srikurmam. Further details of these two temples will be mentioned in a seperate post about the temples of Andhra Pradesh.
   The next destination was Bhuvaneshwar, welcoming us 4 into Odisha, totally strange land. We were heartfully received by Sreeram's cousin there and were lucky to find such a stay to enjoy the beauty of Odisha for 4 days. They gave us idea of how to plan further,keeping the  base camp as Bhuvaneshwar.
                   The beauty of Devi Navaratri, while entering the city was really stunning. The next day was Durgashtami and Maharnavami combined and our destination for the day was Biraja Devi, one of the 18 Shakthi peethas as mentioned in the Sloka as ''Odhyane Girija Devi''
                                     

                Biraja Devi (as poplar locally) temple is located in Jajpur, 80 KM from Cuttak and 100 KM from Bhuvaneshwar. As per the mythology, Sati's navel fell here, as the other parts of her body derived other Shakthi peethas. This is also popular as Nabhi Gaya. (The other two are, Pithapuram in Andhra pradesh is Pada Gaya and Gaya near Allahabad is Siro Gaya. The three parts of body of the demon Gayasura form these Kshetras)
                   The next day, being Dashahara(Vijaya Dasami), with God's grace, we decided to take darshan of Lord Jagannatha in Puri. The yatra of the day started with the darshan of the gigantic Shivlinga in the Linga raja temple of Bhuvaneswar. The temple is said to host more than 108 Shivlingas. The Goddess here named Bhuvaneshwari devi gives the city its name. It may take few hours to completely cover the temple. The very high gopuram structure itself is a feast for eyes.
                            The darshan of the Lord in Puri really made me speechless. The very huge murthis of Lord Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balabhadra,placed on a high platform are just marvellous. One can do a pradaxina in the main sanctum. The Sthala purana of this temple is quite interesting. The complete details can be found at www.jagannath.nic.in
                 The procession of bringing bhog(Prasadam) to the Lord is said to be grand
 and special.
                                         

                           The next stop was at Konak Sun temple, which is now a heritage monument. The sculptures of the temple are almost in ruined state, but the beauty is worth a visit. As per the discourse of Sri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma garu (namely Surya Aaradhana), the mention of this kshetra is found in Puranas also, so though there are no idols in this temple now, the power of Sun God is eternally present in this temple. Taking a guide to explain the details of the sculptures is an appreciable act.
                                       

                          On the way back, we went to Pipili where the handmade crafts are very famous.            
 Taking rest for few hours at home after lunch made us energetic enough to visit the very beautifully decorated Devi Idols in Bhuvaneshwar. The decorations and the idols of different pandals were competing with each other. We visited the mandaps of Shaheed nagar, Nayapalli and few other Pandals (as they locally call) of Ma Durga with very beautiful light decoations. The over all view of Bhubaneshwar during Navaratri is a sight as if the whole city is celebrating, with lighting all over and Pandals located hosting very huge idols of Durga mata. The Rama temple in the town is again a beautiful place welcoming us with smiling and lively idols of  the Lord.
                                         

                                     

                   
  The next day, we started our retutn journey with  break at Tara Tarini temple near Barhampur on the way. This is the place, named Purushottampur, where One of the Dasa maha vidyas, Tara devi is receiving puja in two forms on the same peetha namely Tara and Tarini. The temple is located on the top of a hill with a well built road to reach the top. The sight of the surroundings from the top, is very  scenic.
                                   

      Thus our suddenly planned trip to Odisha was proved very fruitful, memorable and heart-filling,especially the season of Dashara attached extra colors to our tour, which made it extremely beautiful. On the way back, we diverted from the high way  to Annavaram to buy Prasadam of Lord Satyanarayana swamy to take home. We stopped exactly opposite to the temple, thanking the Lord for making the trip a grand success. Same time we heard the drums indicating the arrival of Lord in Pallaki from the other side. We conveyed our pranams to the Lord and the pujari told "today being Ekadasi, the lord on the hill comes down for Grama seva. We finished the ritual and now are going up". I was speechless for the grace of the Lord. He initiated our journey and He Himself came down to bless us His darshan again at the end of the tour. This was really the most happiest moment of the tour.
         Last not the least, I wish to mention here some important & useful tips for visitors of Puri as well as Odisha:

• Though Puri hosts the Lord of the Universe, it also hosts many talented thieves. We were informed that the local people wear artificial jewelry during the visit to the temple. Be very careful of your ornaments as well as money. Women need to keep their neck covered with pallu all the time, as they won't even spare the Mangalasutra. 
• The Pandas (Pujari) of almost all the temples are just hopeless. (sorry to be so straight, but helpless). We didn't dare to say even gotra and nama as we were warned that there is no limit for the amount they demand. They literally keep pulling us asking for money. If somebody stops you, tell them that we have come only for darshan and we need nothing else. They don't even give you teertha unless you give them money. It is very difficult to locate the Hundi in the temples, but the hands of Pandas are tightly holding lot of cash.     

                       This is just to alert people, not to make them feel scared.

        The other shrines in the huge complex of Puri temple are of Goddess Vimala devi, Suryanarayana murthy(being shifted here from Konark Temple), Sakhi Gopal, Sridevi and Bhudevi, place where the previous idols' wood is cremated, and many other.

The good news for those planning to visit Odisha is that all the roads are in very good condition. So no worries in that aspect.


             

The very memorable Godavari Pushkaralu

This year as the very big festival of Godavari maha pushkaralu was about to arrive, we were all set to go to Andhra to feel the blissful blessings of the holy dips. We both started on 11th of July, Saturday early morning to fly towards our sweet home. We actually planned to stop nowhere on the way so that by night, we would be at home. But almighty's plan was all different.
        The first unexpected and very happy diversion was to Lord Venkaiah swamy, Golagamudi. The queue line was welcoming us surprisingly with very nominal crowd, despite being it Saurday. Having finished a heart-felt darshan of the Lord, we were then stopped for lunch at Nellore. The next blessing bundle to be collected was at Malyadri, where the Lord Laxmi Narasimha swamy gives darshan only on Saturdays to mankind. The other days are believed to be alloted for the worship of Lord by devathas. We felt very lucky as we didn't miss the darshan, this time, of the Lord as well as Godess on the hill top. The steps that take us to the Mother are really stunning, laid between two rock hills. At last it was a fantastic Darshan and we both were really happy for that opportunity.
               Last of the day's darshans was of Bharadwaja Master at Ongole, our favourite stop. By night we were at my Brother's in-laws' place Eluru for night stay. Next day after having lunch at my home, we were in Kakinada by evening.
           The next day, we were at Pithapuram to have Darshan and blessings of Lord Sripada Srivallabha and then went to Diwili, locally called as Toli Tirupati, where the Lord blesses us in the form of Sringara Vallabha swami. The Sthala purana says that here, the Lord gave darshan to his child devotee Dhruva , so the idol is so charming with smiling face, thus deriving the name Sringara vallabha. One more speciality of the idol is that, from one point in the temple, the height of the Lord appears to be equal to the height of the individual, and even the Shankha and chakra are interchanged in their position.
                     The rest of the day was rest as well as discussion where to go for teertha vidhis and pushkara snanas, keeping in mind the large crowds expected.
     The day 1 of the pushkaras was scheduled for both of us to take dip at Kotipalli and also the visit to Daksharama temple. It went on very well and the day 2 was also at Kotipalli for teertha vidhi. Our family and Silpa's family were there to perform the rituals, left for home with total contentment.
                                Day 3 was at the very well known Kotilinagala revu of Rajahmundry. I could feel the actual environment of pushkaras here in Rajahmundry. People all over the town, carrying luggages, with wet clothe after taking dip in the river, taking rest somewhere on the road side....every moment was filled with activeness there. I felt really happy to be one among the crowd. Our dip in the river was followed with the visits to the relatives homes in the near by areas and we were back in Kakinada by 5 in the evening. The next day there was no river bath but, the Darhsan of Satyanarayana swami of Annavaram and Talapulamma of Lova made us felt no break in the sequence of our pilgrimage. We had to return home after stepping in the land of Upamaka Village for darshan of Lord Venkateswara. But the temple located on the hill top closes by 10.30 in the morning. So the God's will was that we should go there again sometime.
                   Day 5 was the dip in the Sangam of the river and sea at Yanam, after many discussions. This place was again a feast for eyes with the festive environment and great arrangements. The very huge Shivalingam being sprinkled with water by the two elephants on sides was a fantastic view. Even we took the shower under the Shivalingam and felt awesome. We were back at home by afternoon and in the evening went to Kapileswarapuram for the next stop.
                    The sight of my hometown left me speechless the next morning, Day-6. The entire village was found to be on celebration. Traffic jam was seen for the first time in life there. People gathered from even far off places to take holy dips in the river. All we 3 siblings along with partners and other relatives spent great time enjoying the bath, food, togetherness as well as the god's grace for such a chance to be together. Though short, the visit proved really memorable for each of us. That very night, we started our return journey and stopped at Eluru for the night with a view to avoid the traffic as well as save time for the further journey.
                                Next morning, we were on our chariot by 6.30, and flew towards our destination with first unplanned stop at Amaravathi. One among the Pancharamas, Amaravati hosts the longest Shivalingam of the five. We were blessed to be there at Abhishekam time for a new batch. It was a great joy as well as blissful experience to witness the abhishekam being performed from the top floor for the tall lingam. After being totally immersed in the divine joy, we finished breakfast there itself and drove towards Kotappakonda, the most awaited spot. Lord Trikuteswara and Medha Dakshina murthy blesses the devotees in this kshetra. There is no consort here for the lord as the place was known to become a kshetra after Daksha yagna. One can reach the hilltop temple through steps also, but vehicle can take you till the entrance of the temple. We literally ran into the temple from the parking place, not to miss the glance of the Lord, as someone told, the temple closes by 1 PM. The satisfactory and blissful darshan lead us to get down the hill to go ahead towards next destination.
                We had our lunch at Ongole, did pranams to Master garu from the highway itself and went ahead to reach Nellore by night. Sreeram took an unexpected turn towards Singarayakonda and we were to wait for half an hour for the temple to open. Our waiting proved fruitful with the darshan of Swayanbhu Yogananda Narasimha swamy, Swayambhu Anjaneya swami and Sri rama Pratishtitha Laxmi narasimha swamy. The idol of Yogananda Narasimha murthy is a stunnig appearance. The temple, over all, is a great place to visit. The next day we were at home with loads of memories to be cherished. Thus the pushkara trip proved to be a pilgrimage and left us with a feeling of completeness.   

One more time in the lap of Sri Sankaracharya-Kalady, Thrissur and Guruvayur

                         We felt really blessed and excited to find our journey towards Thrissur, the Kailash of the south,fixed exactly after one year i.e; 27th of Feb, 2015. But this time its with the lovely group including our in-laws and sister-in-law, Prasanna. With a keen intention to spend a night in the lap of Sri Sankaracharya, we made a little change in the plan to reach Kalady first instead of Thrissur as planned earlier, as per the availability of the room. We started on Friday here in Bangalore and reached Kalady by evening 4 O'clock, the journey being 10 hours. We booked a room of Sringeri Sarada Mutt in Kalady. Now, there are very few rooms of this mutt available, but some more are under planning. The advantage of staying in these rooms is that one can feel the peace and sanctity of this place with no disturbances at all. On the way, we had our breakfast at Saravana Bhavan Krishnagiri and lunch at Palakkad Aaryas hotel. There were few more tea breaks to boost the driving of the Chakradhari, my husband.
                          Once we reached Kalady, we checked in the rooms and got fresh at once, as the atmosphere there made us so happy that we felt no strain of the long journey at all. Then we went inside the temple to have the sacred darshan of Goddess Sarada mata, Adi Sankaracharya, The samadhi of Aaryamba (the mother of Sri Sankaracharya), the birth place of Sri Sankaracharya and  Shakti Ganapathi. The inner sanctum of these temples is so peaceful that one feels like spending more and more time there. Behind this complex, flows the river Purna, whose flow was redirected by Sri Sankaracharya to flow before his home, to make it easy for His ealderly mother to take bath and do puja. We sat there infront of Sri Sankaracharya and recited His Soundaryalahari and Lalitha sahasra namam and few more stotras composed by Him and felt really blessed to have such a chance and peace of time. The next darshan was of Lord Krishna, the family deity of Sri Sankaracharya whose idol He rescued from the flow of Purna river when redirected. The beauty of the oil lamps here is a feast for eyes.
                                 

                                  The night was spent waiting for the dusk to open the shower of blessings again. The room was a basic one with minimal facilities. But that was the right choice to grab the complete spiritual taste of Kalady. Early in the morning, we jumped out the room to take a dip in the  pious river Purna and felt a great bliss receiving that blessing. After again having darshan of all the deities in the temple complex, we had our breakfast and proceeded towards Chottanikkara Bhagavathy temple. The Goddess here is famous for curing devotees possessed with evil spirits and other such things. During the previous 2 visits to this temple, we missed the darshan of this beautiful as well as powerful goddess as we reached at the closing time in the afternoon, i.e; after 12 noon. Thats the reason why we reached here in the beginning of the day this time. There are few other upalayas in this complex housing Bhadra kali and Lord Shiva. There lies a tree here in this complex to which people strike nails to get rid of the evil spirits, which we missed.
                              On the way back to Kalady lies the Swarnath Mana which is the house of Kanakadhara stotram, available for darshan of devotees. We spent considerable time there reciting the sacred Kanakadhara stotram and feeling the joy of the previously (of course, ever) present presence of Sri Sankaracharya in that place. Even now, the descendents of that family stay there whose ancestors were the blessed ones to receive the rain of golden amlas from Goddess Laxmi.
                                                   

 We were back in Kalady in the early afternoon and were served the lunch in the Mutt with very sacred and tasty food. Having a chance to get the prasadam with the veda pandits and their chanting of slokas is a great feel. All of us felt really blessed.
                             After thus packing great memories in Kalady, we headed towards Thrissur, Vrishachala as called in Puranas. This is the place where the parents of Sri Sankaracharya did penance to be blessed with an offspring. The town of Thrissur itself is a great attraction, as it is situated circularly around the temple of Vadakkunathan. The darshan of the lord won't be very clear in the evening,as it is covered with the kavacham in front of the Ghee mount Lord. But stepping in the premises of this temple is again a great feeling of bliss. After finishing the Darshanof all the deities in the complex namely Vadakkunatha, Ganapathi, Parvathi, Rama and  Sankara narayana, we felt the grace of Lord guiding us all through, to be there.
                                         

We also had the Darshan of the very beautiful Goddess in the Paramekkavu temple and Chinni Krishna in the Thiruvambady temple. We felt very lucky to witness a seva to the Goddess in that temple where a male, wearing the anklets around his waist, danced before the mother,to the rhythmic sound of drums in an ecstatic state. That was a great scene. We took ticket for the next day's ghee abhishekam and went back to relax in the hotel Emarald.
                                    Early in the morning at 4, we were in the temple to witness the amazing ghee abhishekam to the Lord. Every alayam in the complex is opened with the sound of the bell and each deity is offered the abhishekam seva and the last was the ghee abhishekam of the Vadakkunathan. The priest ascends a ladder like thing inside the antaralaya to pour the ghee on the tall mount of ghee already accumulated there. That is a feast for the eyes. Nobody knows the actual size of the Shiva lingam inside the ghee mount. There is no trace of any insect or bad smell in the temple though the ghee accumulated there is thousands of years old and the ghee won't melt as long as it is on the lingam.It melts only when it is taken out to be offered as prasadam to the devotees. The God is then covered again with the Kavacham within 20-30 minutes. Witnessing the sacred ritual is definitely a boon.
                      After coming back to the hotel room, we started towards the next holy destination Guruvayur. Though there is considerable rush in the temple, the darshan is peacefully completed by the grace of god. Here again the abhishekam of the Lord is going on when we went for the darshan. The Darshan of the Guruvayurappan is considered complete only after the Darshan of Shiva Mammiyurappan in the same village. This temple houses Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy as Bhagavathy. We even visited the Elephant snctuary here where the temple elephants reside.
                                Going back to the room and relaxing for an hour, we started our return journey towards our sweet home and were at the destination by 11 in the night. That was the 3 day trip to the God's own country, concluded with divine grace.