Saturday, September 6, 2008
About Bhadrachalam Temple of Sree Seetaramachandra Swamy :
Bhadrachalam is famous throughout India for its temple of Sree Seetaramachandra Swamy. Situated on the bank of the mighty river Godavari. It is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus, as it is considered to be one of the greatest holy shrines in South India with a historical background. On Sreeramanavami (marriage anniversary celebrations of Lord Rama and his consort Sitadevi) an estimated three lakh people congregate here to witness the holy "Kalyana Mahotsavam" marriage ceremony.
The puranic and historic facts relate that Lord Rama long after he had shed his mortal coils manifested himself to save his devotee Bhadra Maharshi whom he promised ‘moksha’ after intensive prayer. That is why the village is named after Bhadra as Bhadradri or Bhadrachlam. It is said that Srirama appeared in a dream to a woman called Pokala Dammakka and informed her about the existence of idols on Bhadragiri hills. To her surprise she found the idols and out up a modest structure. This was the origin of the present temple.
Later in the 17th century Gopanna commonly known as Ramadas had spent 6 lakhs of rupees to renovate the temple. He was the tahsildar in the court of Abul Hassan Tanashah and the money he spent for renovating the temple was the revenue collected by him. Instead of remitting the money to the government treasury, he utilized the amount for the temple because of which he was arrested. One can still see the cell where he was confined in the Golconda fort. At this juncture Srirama himself appeared in Tanashah’s dream produced a receipt which denoted payments of the amount back to the king in the shape of gold coins known as ‘Ramamada’ in ‘Rama Tenki’. Next morning the Sultan personally came to the cell where Ramadas was interned and released him. The Sultan was awe struck by this miracle and bestowed a number of gifts on Gopanna and also restored him to his position of Tahsildar. He also announced annul grants to the temple which continued under Nizam’s Government. Some of the jewels like ‘Kalikiturai, Pachala Pathakam, Chintaku Pathakam’ presented to Lord Rama and Sita by Ramadas are still preserved in the temple and they can be seen even now.
Below Slide Show Photos are taken by me when I visited my place. The Statues in this slide show depicts different incidents that have taken place in Ramayana.
nice to see u & ur blog,
i am laxmi,
i am also native of bcm,
but present i am in us,
ur blog & ur receipes r nice,
Have a great day bye.....
I am sreedevi from Kothagudem really excited to see your blog ....my dad worked in badrachalam only as forest officer i miss those days....
Good Luck
Sreedevi