Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

Sita Rama Temple at Bhadrachalam

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

Guest guest

visited by Sri Rama, Sita and Lakshmana during their exile. The jungle in the

vicinity of the temple was the actual site of Rama's retreat and it was at the

parnasala (32 km from here) that he built a hut for himself and Sita and

wherefrom Sita was abducted by Ravana. The temple has been built on the very

spot where Rama crossed the Godavari to go to Sri Lanka. Bhadrachalam has

been named after Bhadra Rishi, who is said to have met Sri Rama at this place

after a severe penance. The present temple was constructed in the middle of

the 18th century. Bhadrachalam was then under the Kutub Shah kings, with

capital at Golconda. Gopanna, nephew of Madanna, Minister of King Abul Hasan

Tani Shah (1674-99), the last of

the Kutub Shah Kings, became Tahsildar of the Bhadrachalam area. He was so

intensely devoted to Lord Rama that he spent about Rs. 6 lakhs of revenue on

the renovation of the temple and making ornaments for Sri Rama. For this

diversion of royal money, he was arrested and incarcerated inside the Golconda

fort. This dungeon is even now known as Ramadas's prison and is shown to

visitors at Golconda. Sri Rama himself is stated to have appeared in his dream

and handed over to him a receipt for the money spent in building the temple.

Next morning, Tani Shah (Nawab of Golconda) himself came to the cell and

released Gopanna. A thoroughly shaken king not only restored Gopanna to his

position as Tahsildar, but also gave huge amounts of gifts and in addition,

sanctioned a substantial annual grant for the maintenance of the temple,

continued by the Nizam's Government. Ramadas is

credited with having composed many devotional works, hymns and prayers to Sri

Rama. "Dasarathi Sataka" is considered to be one of his most popular works.

After Ramadas's death, the temple fell into disrepair and it was left to

another ardent devotee, Thummu Narasimhadas of Guntur, to make some

improvements, to prevent further deterioration of the temple. He secured from

Raja Chandulal, a Minister under the Nizam of Hyderabad, the gift of a village,

the revenue from which was to be utilised for maintaining the temple services.

Sri Tyagaraja visited Bhadrachalam, drew inspiration from the kritis of Ramadas

for his own immortal compositions and composed three or four kritis in the

presence of the deity, the well-known among them being "Mohana Rama" and "Enna

Ganu Rama Bhajana." The temple lies on a hillock, commanding a grand

view of the Godavari and can be reached by climbing about 100 steps. The idol

of Sri Rama (moolavar) has distinctive features. The deity is in the padmasana

pose with four hands, (Chaturbuja Rama) holding the bow and arrow in the front

two hands, and Sankha and Chakra in the rear hands. The Sankha is held in the

right hand and the Chakra in the left, indicating that having completed the

destruction of the "rakshasas" with the Chakra, the Lord is assuring the world

of peace and protection as represented by Sankha. To the left of Sri Rama is

Sita and Lakshmana is on her left. But in the utsava vigrahas, Sita and

Lakshmana are on either side of Rama. Adi Sankara, who is stated to have

visited this temple, described Sri Rama as "Vaikunta Rama." On either side of

the entrance to the muhamandapa are the Dwarapalakas — Jaya and Vijaya. The

faces of

the four pillars in the muhamandapa contain exquisite image of Ashtalakshmi, 18

forms of Lord Siva, Dasavatar, 12 Azhwars, etc. The ceiling of this mandapa

contains the figures of a three-petal lotus, made out of a single piece of

granite stone. Apsara women adorn the inner portion of the muhamandapa and the

sanctum. The octagonal-vimana (tower) over the sanctum is a three-storey

construction with granite stones, the kind seen in the temples in Thanjavur and

Chidambaram of the Chola period. The other face of the Vimana contains

beautiful stone images depicting the 48 forms of Lord Vishnu, Garuda, Simha,

Somaskanda and Dakshinamurthy. Another unique feature in the sanctum is that

the sikhara (dome) crowning the vimana is carved from a single block of

granite, weighing about 36

tonnes. This is the biggest in the recent centuries, the oldest being the

80-tonne sikhara over the vimana of the Big temple in Thanjavur. The Sikhara

is crowned with Sudarsana Chakra, which Ramadas got from the Godavari. The

eight-faced Chakra with thousand corners contains Sudarsana Murthi, engraved in

the centre. Nearby stand three pillars — "Ramakoti Kratu Sthamba" among the 108

such pillars installed in various pilgrim centres in this country by Sri

Ramanujar. On the sides of the pillars are carved inscriptions of "Samkshipta

Ramayana" in Sanskrit in Devanagari script. One of the pillars contains the

verses from "Dasarathi Sataka" written by Ramadas with a white marble stone of

his image in front. The most

attractive and awe-inspiring feature is the Kalyana Mandapa outside the temple.

It is a treasure house of sculptures, which are not only those of gods and

goddesses, but also scenes from legends. There are also exquisite floral

designs. On the ceiling, the Ramayana and the 12 zodiac signs are inscribed.

Close to the temple on the top of another hillock is the Ramadas Dhyana Mandir,

a huge hall used for conducting philosophical and devotional programmes. The

interior and exterior walls are inscribed with poems from Dasarathi Sataka and

kritis sung by Ramadas. A life-size statue of the poet stands in front of this

building. Chitrakuta Mandapa is used for conducting cultural activities and

performing marriages by devotees. The `sthala purana' of this place is depicted

on the walls.

Two festivals are most important here — Sri Rama Navami (March-April) and

Vaikunta Ekadasi (December). During Sri Rama Navami there is a huge influx of

pilgrims not only from Andhra districts, but also from other distant places to

attend the wedding of Lord Rama with Sita. The idols of Rama and Sita are

bathed in the river Godavari and bedecked with jewellery. They are then taken

out in a palanquin pr.ocession to the Kalyana Mandapa, where before a huge

gathering, the marriage ceremony takes place to the chanting of Vedic hymns.

Jai Sai Ram Mannar Sai

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...