Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Bhadrachalam – Legends

Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Bhadrachalam – Legends

Bhakta Ramadas:

As per legend, Pokala Dhammakka, an ardent devotee of Lord Rama lived in 17^th 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 12^th 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.