telangana badrachalam tourism

Bhadrachalam

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Bhadrachalam

భద్రాచలము

Bhadradri

—  Town  —

Bhadrachalam Temple

Bhadrachalam

Coordinates: 17.67°N 80.88°ECoordinates: 17.67°N 80.88°E

Country India

State Andhra Pradesh

District Khammam

Area

 • Total 7.5 km2 (2.9 sq mi)

Elevation 50 m (160 ft)

Population (2008)

 • Total 55,352

 • Density 7,121/km2 (18,440/sq mi)

Languages

 • Official Telugu

Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)

PIN 507111

Telephone code 08743

Vehicle registration AP20

Sex ratio 1:1 ♂/♀

Distance from Kothagudem 36 kilometres (22 mi)

Distance from Hyderabad 325 kilometres (202 mi)

Bhadrachalam (Telugu: భద్రాచలము), is a Mejor Grama Panchayathi in Khammam district, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located 312 kilometres (194 mi) east of state capital, Hyderabad. It is situated on the banks of the river Godavari, is an important site of pilgrimage for Hindus. Here the presiding deity is Lord Rama.

Painting of Lord Rama on a temple at Bhadrachalam in Khammam District

Contents  [hide] 

1 History

1.1 Bhakta Ramadas and construction of temple

1.2 Bhadrachalam Temple details

1.3 Festivals at Bhadrachalam

2 Geography

3 Demographics

4 Location

5 Transporation

5.1 Bus

5.2 Train

6 Image Gallery

7 Other temples

7.1 Temples in surrounding areas

8 Visitor attractions

8.1 Parnasala

8.2 Jattayu Paaka (Yetapaka)

8.3 Dummugudem

8.4 Gundala

8.5 Sree Rama Giri

8.6 Venkatareddipeta

8.7 Gannavaram

9 Education institutions

10 Other institutions

11 References

[edit]History

Bhadrachalam[1] town has a documented history of Lord Sri Rama temple constructed in the year 17th Century CE (nearly 370 years ago) The present town is situated in an area, which once formed part of the Dandakaranya forest,said to be visited by Sri Rama,Sita and Lakshmana during their exile (vanavasam). The jungle in the vicinity of the temple was the actual site of Rama's retreat and it was at the Parnasala (32 km from here) that he built a hut for himself and Sita and from where Sita was abducted by Ravana.

The history of this shrine stands for the significance of Ramayana Era, and vicinity of the temple had its incongruous add mixture of another story which depicts the exigency of " Sri Mahavishnu " to manifest himself as Rama long after Ramavatara was to fulfill his promise to his Bhakta Bhadra (a mountain king), a sage who had been continuing the frightened penance to get grace of Lord Rama. The name Bhadrachalam derived from Bhadragiri (Mountain of Bhadra - child of Meru and Menaka).

The temple at Bhadrachalam has the Archa Murthys of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana and are considered to be Swayambhu (self-manifested ones).Lord Sri Rama appeared in a dream to a woman called Pokala Dammakka and informed here about the existence of vigrahas on Bhadragiri hills. To her surprise she found the "Vigraha's" and put up a modest structure. Dhammakka, cleared jungle and offered puja to the deities.

[edit]Bhakta Ramadas and construction of temple

Kancherla Gopanna (c 1620 - 1680 CE), popularly known as Bhadradri Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu, was a 17th century Indian devotee of Rama and a composer of Carnatic music.[2] He lived in the village of Nelakondapalli near Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh during the 17th century and is renowned for constructing a famous temple for Lord Sri Rama at Bhadrachalam.

Ramadasu[3] under the guidance of Pokala Dammakka built the temple at Bhadrachalam. His devotional lyrics to Rama are famous in South Indian classical music as Ramadaasu Keertanalu. He also wrote Dasarathi Shatakamu (దాశరధి శతకము) with a 'makuTamu' (మకుటము) 'Dasaradhee Karuna payonidhi' (దాశరధీ కరుణా పయోనిధీ!), a collection of nearly 108 poems dedicated to the son of Dasaratha (Lord Rama).

[edit]Bhadrachalam Temple details

Bhadrachalam is considered as a sacred place and the second famous Lord Rama Kshetra after Ayodhya in India Sri Lakshmana Sametha Seeta Ramachandra Swamy, Bhadrachalam.It is the best pilgrim centre in Andhra Pradesh after Tirupati. The speciality of this temple is the main Deity faces westside towards river Godavari. The temple at Bhadrachalam is located on a small hillock. The main Deity (moolaviraat) of Lord Rama has distinctive features here. He is in the Padmasana pose with four hands, holding the bow and arrow in the front two hands, and Conch(Shankam) and Wheel(Chakram) in the rear hands. The Sankha is held in the right hand and the Chakra in the left. To the left of Sri Rama is Sita and Lakshmana is on her left, he is also known as "Vaikuntha Rama".There are many site seeing places in and around Bhadrachalam.

The Sikhara is crowned with Sudarsana Chakra, which Ramadas got from the Godavari. The eight-faced Chakra with thousand corners contains Sudarsana Murthi, engraved in the centre. Nearby in the temple complex stands three pillars — "Ramakoti Kratu Sthamba" among the 108 such pillars installed in various pilgrim centres in this country by Sri Ramanujar.On the sides of the pillars are carved inscriptions of "Samkshipta Ramayana" in Sanskrit in Devanagari script. One of the pillars contains the verses from "Dasarathi Sataka" written by Ramadas with a white marble stone of his image in front.

Another Unique feature of this Temple town is there are two Kshetra Palakas for the main temple. Those are:

Sri Yogananda Jwala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy (Lord Narasimha)

Sri Annapurna Kasi Vishweswara Swamy (Lord Shiva)

In the above two temples also the main Deities are also West Faced towards river Godavari. These two temples are sub temples to Seeta Ramachandra Swamy Temple and are equally important with the main temple. Both these sub temples are also located on small hillocks as Sri Rama temple, but Lord Shivas' temple is located in the higher ground along with Nava Gragahs and Vignadipathi Vinayakudu (Lord Ganesh). These temples are also equally significant along with the main temple of Lord Sri Rama.

Ramadasu Dhyanamandiram, a Meditation Hall, which is located in top hill. It provides a Panoramic view of the curve's of River Godavari and the complete view of Bhadrachalam town,one can see and read the Ramayanam inscribed on stone plates at this hall.

[edit]Festivals at Bhadrachalam

Two festivals are most important here at Bhadrachalam -

Annual Kalyanotsavam on the eve of Sri Rama navami, during Sri Rama Navami(march-April) there is a huge influx of pilgrims not only from Andhra districts, but also from other distant places to attend the wedding of Lord Rama with Sita.

Vaikunta Ekadasi (Mukkoti). Sree Seetaramachandra swamy will give darshan through the Vaikuntha dwaram on the eve of Mukkoti(December–January).

[edit]Geography

Bhadrachalam is located at 17.67°N 80.88°E.[4] It has an average elevation of 50 metres (164 feet).

[edit]Demographics

As of 2008 India census,[5] Bhadrachalam had a population of 55,352. As of 2001, Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Bhadrachalam has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 54% of the males and 46% of females literate. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit]Location

Bhadrachalam is located in Khammam District, Andhra Pradesh at a distance of over 309 km slightly northeast of Hyderabad. Situated on the banks of Godavari River, Bhadrachalam is 161 kilometres from Rajahmundry and 201-km from Vijayawada.

Bhadrachalam is about 130 kilometres (approx. 82miles) from district headquarters Khammam. The nearest railway station to Bhadrachalam is at a distance of 40 kilometers, in a town called Kothagudem. The railway station was named as Bhadrachalam Road due to its proximity to the important pilgrimage center.

In 1959 Bhadrachalam Revenue Division consisting of Bhadrachalam and Nuguru Venkatapuram Taluks of East Godavari district, which were on the other side of the river Godavari were merged into Khammam on grounds of geographical contiguity and administrative viability.

[edit]Transporation

[edit]Bus

From Khammam, It is better to go catch a Bus for Bhadrachalam. Direct rail connectivity from khammam doesn't exists. 2.5 Hours journey from Khammam to Bhadrachalam by bus.

[edit]Train

Khammam to Badhrachalam Road a passenger train does its service (Train No. 57254). From Badhrachalam Road every 15 min a bus service available to Badhrachalam town.

From Secunderabad to Bhadrachalam Road there is a daily train at 10.45pm, and will reach Bhadrachalam Road by 4.45am. Then there will be frequent buses up to Bhadrachalam., and also there is another Super fast train (11.45pm)secunderabad to Bhadrachalam Road which will run thrice a week (M,W,F).

[edit]Image Gallery

Sri Ramanavami Kalyanam

Hanuman at Badrachalam

View of Bhadrachalam from Bhadrachalam Temple

Bhadrachalam temple old picture

Bhadrachalam temple gopuram

Sri Yogananda Narasimha Temple in Bhadrachalam, Khammam District

[edit]Other temples

Besides Sri Seeta Ramachandra Swamy Temple the other important temples in the town are as follows:

Sri Annapurna Kasi Visweswara Swamy Temple

Sri Yogananda Jwala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple

Sri Govinda Raja Swamy Temple (Tatagudi)

Sri Sai Baba Temple

Sri Abhayanjaneya Swamy Temple

Sri Raja Rajeshwari Temple

Sri Ayyappa Swamy Temple

Sri Harnath Baba Mandir

Sri Amba Satram Temple

[edit]Temples in surrounding areas

There are many places to visit around Bhadrachalam surroundings. Some of the other important temples in Bhadrachalam are as follows:

Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Temple (near Ambedkar centre, Busstand, BCM)

Sri Krishna Temple (on the way to Raamalayam)

Sri Durga Devi Temple (near ITDA)

Sri Kodanda Rama Temple (near police station, BCM)

Sri Kodanda Rama Temple Morampalli banjar

Sri Uma Rama Liageswar Alyam near Ambedkar Centre V. Colony BCM

Sri Abhayanjaneya Swamy Temple, Near Bridge Centre

Besides the above temples other significant temple in Bhadrachalam is Lord Shiva temple near to main temple and Kalyana mandapam is "Sadhuvula Matham". There is a belief that an underground way is present from this temple.

[edit]Visitor attractions

Dummugudem Barrage on Godavari in Khammam District

Lord Venkateswara at Venkatreddipet near Bhadrachalam

[edit]Parnasala

This is supposed to be the exact spot where Rama, during his vanavasa in Dandakaranya, constructed a hermitage and spent his exile with his consort Sita and brother Laxmana. Agastya had selected this spot for Rama and is about 35 km from Bhadrachalam.

The picturesque display of some scenes of vanavasa could be seen at Parnashala. One can see the foot prints of Sita devi, Mosaic of Maarecha in the guise of golden deer and Ravana in the guise of Sanyasi for Bhikshatana. Also found in the vicinity are Sita Vaagu-where she had bathed and collected the turmeric and Kunkum from nearby stones and the marks of her saree on the rock near Sita Vaagu. These are all the visiting places for the pilgrims. As Ravana kidnapped Sita, the deity at Parnashala is called Sokarama. The tracks of the chariot of Ravana while kidnapping Sita can be seen on the mountain on the other side of the river bank at Parnashala temple.

[edit]Jattayu Paaka (Yetapaka)

This place is situated from 2 km away from Bhadrachalam. According to Itihasas, the bird Jatayuvu, a devotee of Rama had obstructed Ravana while he was proceeding on the chariot after kidnapping Sita. After the fearful battle between Ravana and Jataayuvu, the heavily injured bird had waited at this place in search of Rama. A wing of this bird fell at Rekkapalli, about 55 km from here, in V.R. Puram Mandal.

[edit]Dummugudem

Here Rama is called the Atmarama. The story reveals that Rama killed 14,000 demons headed by the brothers Khara and Dushana. As the village was said to be built upon the ashes of these demons, the place is named after as Dummugudem.

[edit]Gundala

It is a place 5 km away from the sacred town Bhadrachalam, where springs of hot water could be traced on the river bank when we dig a pit at any place in this area. It is believed that the divine trios (Brahma Vishnu Maheswara) had their dips in winter season according to Brahma Purana.

[edit]Sree Rama Giri

This place is situated on the bank in the down stream of river Godavari, about 55 km from here. The deity of Yoga Rama Temple is on a hill and is named as Ramagiri.

[edit]Venkatareddipeta

This place is situated 12 km away from bhadrachalam, where lord venkateswara swami kalyan will celebrate every year.

[edit]Gannavaram

This place is situated 25 km away from Bhadrachalam, where Botlamma will receive prayers from the devotees.

[edit]Education institutions

Government Degree College

Govt Jr. College

Nannapaneni Mohan Govt High School (Korrajulagutta School)

Government Girls High School

A.P.R.J.C Girls College

Dr. Paul Raj Engineering College.

Dr. Paul Raj Engineering College, Yetapaka (V), Bhadrachalam

Mythili Mahila Jr. College

Little Flowers High School

Little Flowers Jr. College

Mother Theressa Degree College

PSR Degree College

Rams Degree College

Chinna High School

Divya Convent

Bharthi Vidya NiKetan

Gowtham Model School

Mythili Public School

Jyothi Educational Society & Jyothi Convent

Bhadrachalam Public School & Jr. College

St.Paul's High School

St Ann's Public School

Komala Vidyanikethan

Roopa Educational Society

Samatha Public School

Siddhartha Public School

Sri Sai Jr. College

Sri Sai Degree College

Saadhana Public School (Formerly Sri Seeta Rama Public School)

New Schalor Convent Morampalli