Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple,
Bhadrachalam – Legends
Bhakta Ramadas:
As per legend, Pokala Dhammakka,
an ardent devotee of Lord Rama lived in 17th century CE in Bhadrareddypalem.
Bhadrareddypalem is situated at about 2 Kms from this temple. She had darshan
of Lord Rama in her dreams in one night. Lord Rama revealed his presence in
Bhadrachalam and asked her to find the idols, perform pooja and attain
salvation. She started searching for the idols on the very next day morning.
She finally found the idols inside an ant hill on top of the Bhadrachalam hill.
She constructed a mandapam for housing these idols at the top of the hill.
Later, Kancharla Gopanna, an
ardent devotee of Lord Rama, was popularly known as Bhakta Ramadas, constructed
this temple in 1674 CE. He was born to Linganna Murthy and Kamamba 1620 CE. He
was nephew of Akkanna, a minister of Nawab Abul Hasan Qutb Shah (also known as Tana
Shah) of Golkonda. He was appointed as Tahsildar of Palvoncha Paragana
responsible for collecting taxes. One day, he noticed the villagers of Palvoncha
Paragana were going for a Jatara at Bhadrachalam. He also decided to join them.
He was mesmerized by the beauty
of the idols at Bhadrachalam. He decided to construct a temple for the idols.
He requested the villagers to contribute for the construction activities of the
temple. The amount collected from the villagers were found to be
insufficient. The villagers requested him to spend the revenue collections for
the construction of the
temple. Also, the villagers assured that the money used from revenue
collections would be repaid after harvesting the crops. He constructed the
temple with an amount of six lakhs without seeking the permission from Nawab
Abul Hasan Qutb Shah.
When the Nawab came to know
about the
temple construction using the tax amount meant for the state, he dismissed
Gopanna from the post and ordered the arrest of him. Subsequently, he was
arrested and kept in jail in Golkonda Fort for 12 years. The Nawab told Gopanna
that he will be hanged if he did not return the amount within 12 years. He composed
many kirtanas in praise of Sri Rama to provide relief to his miseries. These kirtanas
are popularly known as Dasarathy Sathakam.
On the last day of 12th
year, Nawab Tana Shah had dream in which two divine looking people namely
Ramoji and Lakshmoji, claiming to be servants of Gopanna, handed over gold
coins having imprints of Sri Rama worth six lakhs to the Nawab and requested
him to release Gopanna. When the Nawab woke up, he was surprised to see a bag
of gold coins lying beside him. He realized his mistake and released Gopanna
immediately. Further, Nawab was surprised to see the receipt for the gold coins
under the pillow of Gopanna.
Nawab handed over the entire gold
coins to Gopanna seeking his forgiveness. However, Gopanna refused to take the
money except two gold coins as divine significance. These coins can be seen in
the museum in Bhadrachalam
Temple. From that day onwards, Gopanna came to be called as Baktha Ramadas.
Nawab Tana Shah also became a devotee of Lord Rama and took over the
administration of this
temple.
He directed that the revenue
collected from Palvoncha Paragana, around Rs 20,000 per month to be utilized
for the maintenance of Bhadrachalam
temple. Also, every year during Sri Ramanavami festival, on the occasion of
Kalyana Mahotsavam, pearls will be offered to the deities on an elephant
through specially sent messenger. The ritual of sending pearls to the deities
is still followed by present state Government.
Bhadragiri / Bhadrachalam:
As per legend, Sage Bhadra, son
of Meru and Menaka, was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama performed intense
penance at the banks of Godavari river in order to have darshan of Lord Rama. Sage
Bhadra had a vision of Lord Rama during his penance and pleaded with him to be
seated on his head. But, Lord Rama was in search of Sita, after she was
abducted by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka.
However, he promised to return
to this place after rescuing Sita from Ravana. Unfortunately, Lord Rama could
not fulfill his promise in Treta Yuga. But, Sage Bhadra waited for Lord Rama
arrival. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Vishnu descended to this place in the
form of Vaikunda Rama along with his consort Sita and his brother Lakshmana.
Thus, the place came to be called as Bhadragiri
/ Bhadrachalam.
Parnasala:
As per legend, Lord Rama along
with his consort Sita and his brother Lakshmana spent considerable amount of
time in this region during their exile. The region was called as Dandakaranya
during Ramayana times. It is said that they built their hermitage at
Chitrakoota in Parnasala as per the advice of Sage Agastya. Parnasala is the
place where Mother Sita was abducted by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka in the
form of golden deer. Parnasala is situated at about 35 Kms from this
temple.
Shabari:
Shabari was
an elderly woman ascetic mentioned in the Hindu epic Ramayana. She was a tribal
woman and an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. She was a seeker of knowledge and
wanted to know the meaning of Dharma. She set out to find the truth. She met
Sage Matanga at the foot of Mount Rishyamukha after several days of travel. She
became a disciple of him and served him sincerely. When Sage Matanga was in death
bed, Shabari sought salvation from his Guru.
The
sage advised Shabari that she should stay at this
place and wait for the arrival of Lord Rama and Lakshmana who will visit the
hermitage in near future. She would attain salvation with their blessings. Shabari
took up the responsibility of the hermitage and started waiting for Rama and
his brother. Every day, Shabari would go out of her ashram, with the help
of a walking stick, and pluck berries for Lord Rama.
She
would pluck one, taste it and, if it was sweet, she would put it in her basket,
discarding the bitter ones. She wanted to give the good berries to
Rama. She didn't know that offerings must not be tasted. Thus, collecting
a few berries, Shabari would return to the ashram and eagerly await
Lord Rama's arrival. Lord Rama with his brother, Lakshmana, were searching for
Sita in Dandaka forest. Finally, Lord Rama and Lakshmana reached the hermitage and
found Shabari was waiting for them. Shabari became ecstatic on seeing Lord Rama.
Shabari
offered the fruits which she had meticulously collected from the forest. When Lord
Rama was about to taste, Lakshmana raised the concern that Shabari had already
tasted them and therefore unworthy of eating. Lord Rama informed Lakshamana that
the fruits offered by her was tastiest of all which he had eaten till now. He
further said that offerings made with pure devotion is more important than the
sanctity of the offerings. The Sabari river flowing here is named after her.
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