Siasat.com/News/Telangana/Do not distort originality of Telangana: Restore the names of Yadagirigutta and Bhadrachalam
Do not distort originality of Telangana: Restore the names of Yadagirigutta and Bhadrachalam
| C R Gowri Shanker
Hyderabad: What’s in a name? Certainly, a lot if the names of temples, historical places are changed by rulers of the day for obvious reasons.
Victory of Congress in Telangana State has heralded voicing of voices for setting right the wrongs and changes done by ousted BRS Government.
The first salvo on change of names of prominent places in Telangana State by former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao during BRS rule has been fired by Acharya G Chenna Keshav Reddy, retired professor of Sri Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad.
Keshav Reddy told Siasat.com that he had requested Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to restore the old names of famed Yadagirigutta Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple and Bhadrachallam where the famous Sri Rama temple is located.
KCR on the reported advice of Chinna Jeeyar Swamy had changed the names of two prominent temple places—Yadagirigutta to Yadadri and Bhadrachallam to Bhadradri.
Ironically, Chinna Jeeyar Swamy who was in the good books of KCR and a spiritual guide for some time fell out with him later.
“Yadagirigutta or gutta for short has been called since ages. However, former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on the instructions of an Andhra swami changed its age-old name to Yadadri, which is against democratic principles. Thousands of people in Telangana have Yadagiri as their name. It’s there since ages. Why change it?” he said in a letter to Chief Minister.
He added, “In old Krishna District in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, there is “Vedadri” which was linked to Yadadri. Why lift this name from AP? Yadagirigutta is part of Telangana culture and history. The original names should be restored.”
Yadagirigutta is a famous pilgrim centre of Lord Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The temple, which was renovated and reconstructed by KCR, is located 60 km from Hyderabad.
Taking exception to change of name of Bhadrachallam to Bhadradri too, the professor reminded that Kothagudem railway station was called “Bhadrachallam road.”
Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachallam is one of the ancient temples in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district attracting pilgrims from all over the country and world.
The annual Sri Rama Navami day when the wedding of Lord Rama and his consort Sita takes places attracts huge pilgrims. The temple is located 300 km from Hyderabad.
“In a people’s government, the local names should be there and if it is changed, it should be restored back. We should restore Yadagiri-Bhuvanagiri and Bhadrachallam-Kothagudem district names too,” he added.
Yadagirigutta Temple History
YADAGIRIGUTTA LAKSHMI NARASIMHA SWAMY
In Tretayugam, there lived a sage by the name of Yadarishi, son of the great sage Rishyasrunga and Santa Devi who did penance inside a cave with the blessings of Anjaneya (Hanuman) on this hill between Bhongir (Bhuvanagiri) and Raigiri (Now in Nalgonda district of Telangana, India).
Pleased with his deep devotion, Lord Narasimha, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu appeared before him in five different forms as Sri Jwala Narasimha ,Sri Yoganand, Sri Gandabherunda, Sri Ugra and Sri Lakshminarasimha. All these five forms (roopas) are presently worshipped within the temple. They later manifested themselves into finely sculpted forms that later came to be worshiped as Pancha Narasimha Kshetram.
There are Purana and traditional accounts of this Shrine, which are widely popular among the devotees. There is mention about the origin of this temple in the Skanda Purana, one of the famous 18 puranas.
Glowing bright atop the sikharam of garbha griha (Sanctum Sanctorum) of this cave temple is the golden Sudarshana Chakra (about 3 ft x 3ft) of Lord Vishnu (whose reincarnation is Lord Narasimha), the adornment as well as the weapon is a symbol this temple is identified by from as far away as 6 km.
It is said that many years ago the chakra moved in the direction from which the devotees came as if like a compass guiding them towards the temple. The Chakra Considered to possess mystic power and value, at times turns on its own ; no human hand is capable of turning it.
Another Legend also has it that Sriman Narayana, pleased with Yada's penance, sent Sri Anjaneya to direct the rishi to a holy spot, where the Lord appeared to him in the form of Sri LakshmiNarasimha.
This spot is marked by a temple located at the foot of the Yadagiri hillock, and is located about 5 km from the present temple. There the sage worshiped the Lord for many years.
After Yadarishi attained moksha, a number of tribals, hearing of the Lord's presence, came to worship Him at this temple. But, not being very learned, these devotees began to engage in improper worship.
Because of this, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha moved into to the hills. The tribals searched for many years to find their Lord, to no avail.
After many years had passed, the Lord appeared in the dream of a devout lady among the tribe, directing her to a large cavern wherein He revealed Himself to all as five majestic Avatars.
The Aradhanam and Puja in this temple are performed according to Pancharatra Agamam. The puja vidhanam (Puja procedure) was set by Late Sri Vangeepuram Narasimhacharyulu who composed Yadagiri Suprabhatam, Prapatti, Stotram, Mangalashasanam and served as Sthanacharya of this temple.
BHADRACHALAM TEMPLE
A sacred place that attracts lakhs of devotees from all over the world, it is the abode of Lord Rama (The seventh incarnation of Sri Mahavishnu).
This hill place which is encircled by holy river Godavari flowing towards southern direction is the famous shrine Bhadrachalam-The name derived from Bhadragiri (Mountain of Bhadra-a boon child of Meru and Menaka).According to a Ithihasas, the significance of this shrine dates back to the Ramayana Era. This coherent hill place existed in “Dandakaranya” of Ramayana period where Rama with his consort Sita and brother Laxmana had spent their vanavasa- and Parnashaala(the place connected to the famous Golden Deer and the place from where Sita was abducted by Ravana.) is also in the vicinity of this temple site.
It is at this Mandir site that, long after Ramavatara, Bhagawan Mahavishnu manifested Himself as Rama again to fulfil a promise He made to His Bhakta Bhadra, who continued his Tapas through Yugas, praying for the grace of the Bhagawan Sri Ramachandra murthy.
According to history, Palaeolithic man had roamed the areas, which is called the lower Godavari valley that includes Bhadrachalam and its surroundings.
Bhadrachalam town has a clearly documented history of Lord Sri Rama temple, which was constructed in the 17th Century CE.
According to Mythology, the present town was once part of the Dandakaranya forest, which Lord Sri Rama, Sita and Lakshmana had visited during their exile also called vanavasam according to local parlance.
The jungle which is now in the vicinity of temple was the place for Rama’s retreat and a place called Parnasala which is 32 km away was the location where Rama had built a dwelling for himself and Sita.
It was here that Sita was abducted by Lanka ruler, Ravana. The town shares its historical significance with Ramayana Era.
The name Bhadrachalam is derived from the word Bhadragiri (The Mountain Abode of Bhadra, the child of Meru and Menaka). The famous temple at Bhadrachalam is home to the Archa Murthy’s of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana and their idols are believed to be swayambhu i.e. self-manifested ones.
Bhadrachalam division also has several other Hindu temples. Parnasala is believed to be the spot where Rama constructed a hermitage during his exile and spent time with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana.
Agastya muni helped Rama select this spot. For the purpose of tourists, there is picturesque display of few scenes from vanavasa at Parnasala.
Pilgrims enthrall when they see the footprints of Sita devi, the mosaic of Maarecha who appears in the guise of golden deer and Ravana who appears in the form of Sanyasi for Bhikshatana.
One can see Sita Vaagu where Sita had bathed and gathered turmeric and Kunkum from the nearby stones. Yetapaka located 2 km from Bhadrachalam has a history where the bird Jatayuvu, an ardent devotee of Rama tried to obstruct Ravana when he was proceeding on a chariot after kidnapping Sita.
A fierce batted ensued and a wing of the bird was believed to have found at Rekkapalli.
Rama is worshipped as Atmarama here at Dummugudem where according to Purana, Rama killed around 14,000 demons belonging to Khara and Dushana.
The place is called Dummugudem as it was built on the ashes of these demons. At Gundala, located 5 km away from Bhadrachalam, once can see hot water springs after digging a pit on the riverbank and it is said that the divine trio of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara dipped in the holy water here during winter season.
There are other places too like Sree Rama Giri, Venkatreddipeta, Gannavaram etc. The temple town witnesses heavy influx of pilgrims during Sree Rama Kalyanam. Kothagudem, 40 kilometres away is the nearest railway station and regular buses are available from here, Khammam, Hyderabad and Vijayawada.
Bhadrachalam is located 352 kms from Hyderabad.
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