One fine day after the completion of my
Civil Services Mains, a dear friend of mine suggested travelling all around my
home district of Kadapa, not only to know the district better to help me with
my interview prep but also as a stress buster during my stay at a relatively
boring hometown. We finally made a start by zeroing on a few places in each
direction around Kadapa.
To cut this crap and getting on to business, there were five major
directions to exit out of Kadapa town each towards
1. Rajampet
2. Nellore
3. Proddatur
4. Rayachoti
5. Pulivendula
THE TRIPS ........
1. Towards Rajampet -
26th Jan.
STOP 1 - Soumyanadhaswamy Temple, Nandalur:
There is a myth that the first rays of
sun fall at the feet of the idol at this temple and so we wanted to rush to see
this happening. But in fact they don’t fall on his feet instead the grabha
griha is lit up well in the morning without the use of lights !
The temple has three Raja gopurams
overlooking the three directions(except west). The main idol is Sri Soumyanatha
Swamy facing East. Legend has it that the Lord is another incarnation of Sri
Venkateswara Swamy. Tirupati is towards the east of Nandalur. The idol
resembles the idol of Sri Venkateswara Swamy in Tirupati, the only difference
being here in Nandalur, the Lord has "Abhaya Hastham" whereas in
Tirumala the Lord has "Kati Hastham". Normally in all the temples
dedicated to Sri Venkateswara Swamy, the idol will be carved as having
"Kati Hastham".
The temple is constructed with 108
pillars and is built in a plot containing ten acres.The whole of the temple is
constructed with redstone. The pillars of the Mandapam (porch) have lion's
heads at the bottom of the pillar. There are other small temples of Prayoga
Narasimha Swami, Ganapati and Anjaneya and a huge Yagnashala in the complex.
There is also small pond in the temple premises.
The temple was contructed in Dravida style by Matli Kings (Chola).
STOP 2- Buddist Site, Adapur:
Though this site was mentioned in wiki,
we couldn't locate this site that easily. There was just a really old sign post
on the main road in the direction of a kucha road. When we walked for two
miles, the road ended abruptly. We had a brilliant realisation that if at all
there is a Buddist site around here, it might be on the top of the adjacent
hill and we started trekking that huge hill. We did find four ancient pillars
on the top but there was nothing present there to understand their
significance.
Neverthless, the view of Cheyyeru river from that hill top was breath
taking !
STOP 3 - Taallapaka
The place of birth of the Saint Poet
Annamacharya is located here. There is a Sudarsana Chakra or the Chakrattalwar
temple, the temple of Chennakesava and Sidheswara are also located there. The
famous saint poet Annamacharya, who wrote 32,000 Kirtans (Praising Lord
Venkateswara), was born in Tallapaka, a village just 4 km from Rajampet. A
108 ft (33 m). tall Annamayya Statue has been installed facing the
Main Road.
STOP 4 - Parasurama
Kshetra, Attirala
Attirala is considered a very sacred
place, located on the east bank of the river Cheyyeru or Bahuda. The sanctity
of the river Cheyyeru was elaborately described in the great epic
of Mahabharata. It is believed that the river Cheyyeru
redeemed Parasurama from the sin of matricide and also miraculously gave
hands to Likhita, the brother of Sankha a great sage. It is a centre of Vedic
culture and famous for its scenic beauty. The temple of Parasurama Kshetra is
located here. To the south of this temple there is a 72 pillared hall and on
the eastern side there are two famous temples on the hill slope dedicated to
Gadhadara and Thretheswara. The temple was built during the chola times
and the gopuram is in the shape of the back of an elephant. Some of the
sculptures were destroyed during the Muslim invasions.
Parasurama Kshetra is worth seeing for
its sculptural beauty and grand appearance. There is a Jyothistambha, higher up
in the temple of Thretheswara, on the top of a hill. Jyothi, lighted on
festivals, is visible to distance of 30 Kms around.
STOP 5 - Kodanda Ramaswamy temple,
Ontimitta (Ekasilanagaram)
According to the legend, the temple had
been constructed by two devotees of Lord Rama, named Vontudu and Mittudu, in
one single day. Kishkindakanda, one of the 7 kandas of the Ramayana,
is believed to have occurred in this region. The temple is also associated
with Jambuvantha of
the Ramayana. The main mandapam, built by the Vijayanagar kings, has a dancing
Vigneswara. Saint-poet Tallapaka Annamacharya is said to have visited the place
and sung in praise of the deity in his keerthanas. The composite image in
the garbhagriha of
the temple is that of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita is believed to
be carved from a single rock. An Anjaneya or Hanuman temple
is located close by. The Sri Kodandarama temple at Vontimitta is said to
be the only Rama temple in the country without Anjaneya beside the main deity.
There are Sila-sasanaas(stone
inscriptions) in the temple and on the Northern Side. The first
Sasanaa was laid in 1555 AD by the village officer Sri Kalluri Lingaiah. It
tells us that a village by name 'Palaputhuru' was donated to the temple by the
then Area Commander, Sri Yati Thirumalaiah Maharaj under the control of Sri
Veera Sadasiva Devarayalu, the emperor of Vijayanagaram. Another sasanaa, laid
in 1558 AD by an officer of Vontimitta says that some hamlets adjacent
to Vontimitta alongwith agricultural lands were donated to the temple to
meet the expenditure for constructing compound walls and conducting Car
festivals and Brahmotsavam functions. This was made by Sri Nagarajaiah Devai
Nagaraj s/o Guttiyera Thirumalaraju who was the Prime Minister of Vijayanagar
Empirer, Sadasiva Devarayalu.
The Mukhamandapam contains 32 Pillors.
It depicts pictures of stories in Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Dasavatarams, Kalinga
Madanam, Lifting of Govardhanagiri by Lord Krishna, and Poothana Samharam and
other sculpures. The Kalyana Mantapam also contains sculptures of excellent
nature. The Gali Gopuram has a height of 165 ft.
STOP 6 - Siddavatam fort
In the past, people called "Siddhas" were living in this area.
They used to live under trees called "vata" (Indian Banyan tree)
which were plenty in this area at that time. Hence the name "Sidhas"
+ "Vata" = Sidhvatam.
Top of the fort has been adorned with carvings of Gajalakshmi.
Moreover, the 17 square bastions which once used to protect the
region are still visible in the fort.The fort houses an ancillary passage which
allows the visitors to gain access even after the closure of the main gates. It
is considered as the gateway to Dakshina Kashi. The temples present inside
its premise include the Ranganayaka Swamy Temple, Siddheswara Temple, Durga
Temple and the Bala Brahma Temple.
The fort here was much developed under the rule of king Varadha
Raju, who is the son-in-law of Sri Krishna Deva Raya. This fort was just
a mud fort at the time the area was ruled by "Matti
Rajulu". Later it came under the control of Varadha Raju. Earlier it was a
part of Udayagiri Kingdom. Matti Yellama Raju used to support
the second Venkatapathi Rayalu in many wars. For this favour, Sidhavatam
was given to Matti Yellama Raju as a gift along with some other places.
Later Matti Anantha Raju remodelled the fort as Rock Fort. Later Aurangajeb's command
From 1807 to 1812 Sidhavatam was the
district headquarters. But since it is on the bank of river Penna, every time
the river floods, the place was used to get isolated. Hence the district
headquarters were shifted to Kadapa.
