Location: Bhadrachalam. Khammam Dist Andhra Pradesh, India

Deity: Goddess: Sree Seetha Ramachnadra swamy

Festivals: Sriramanavami.

History:

A sacred place that attracts lakhs of devotees from all over the world, it is the abode of Lord Rama (The seventh incarnation of SriMahavishnu). 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.

Exigency of Incarnation
The history depicts that the need emerged for the incarnation of Vykuntha Rama to fulfill a long desire of his ardent devotee Bhadra.

Maharshi Bhadra
Bhadra performed penance at the bank of river Godavari in this " Dandakaranya" to get grace of lord Rama and subsequently in the countenance of his beloved God-the exulted "Rishi" implored Rama to be seated on his head. But Rama who was in search of his consort Sita, gave promise to his Bhakta that his desire would be fulfilled on his way back, after finding Sita and accomplishing the process of punishing the wicked Ravana and establish 'Dharma'. Thus the sage had been in continuation of the frightened penance as Rama could not accomplish the promise in Ramavatara. Then, Sri Mahavishnu manifested himself as Vykuntha Rama and rushed to his devotee Bhadra, signaling his arrival by blowing 'Shanku'(Conch), accompanied by his consort Sita and brother Laxmana, resembling that of 'Gajendra Moksham'-Thus, the moorthies of Rama (having four hands)-Shanku(Panchajanya-Conch)on the right, Sudarshana Chakra at his left and Dhanurbhana (Bow and Arrow in the rest two hands), Sita had condescended on the left lap of Rama and brother (at Rama's left) have existed. And the hill place where the Deities were seated on, was the head place of Bhadra -achalam (hill), thus this shrine was transformed into Bhadrachalam.

The idols of Vykuntha Rama, Laxmana and Sita were found by Pokala Dhammakka. Pokala Dhammakka, an ardent devotee of Rama lived in the 17th century and was an inhabitant of Bhadrireddypalem, a mile away from this holy place. On one fine night, she had darshan of Rama in her dream who said "the saints and sages are worshiping my embodied moorthy settled on Bhadragiri" and asked her to trace them, perform pooja and attain salvation. On the very next day morning she started searching for the idols-peeped into an ant-hill and found the idols hidden in it. She poured hundreds of pots of Godavari water on the ant-hill which tardily dissolved and gave way for the appearance of the hidden Deities. Since then, she used to perform pooja daily and offer 'naivedyam' with fruits fallen from near palmyra tree and constructed a mandapam of thatch hut with the help of local villagers. Bhagawan Rama told Dhammakka that at a later date, one of his devotees would construct a Mandir at this site. Dhammakka waited patiently for the devotee. The devotee turned out to be Bhakta Ramadas.

Bhakta Ramadas and construction of temple

A Fairs and festivals
Two major festivals are being celebrated every year which were introduced and traditionally celebrated right from the tenure of Bhakta Ramadas. "Vykuntha Ekadasi" a religious festival that attracts lakhs(hundred thousand) of devotees from all over the country at this famous shrine Bhadrachalam, is celebrated in the months of either December or January in 'Dhanur Masam' on the day of either Pushya or Margasira shuddha Ekadasi. The ten day festival called Adhyayanotsavams and Dasavatara Mahotsavams(10 incarnations) of Sri Maha Vishnu are preceded to Vykuntha Ekadasi Fete.

On Dasami day, the colourful Teppotsavam(boat festival) is a special attraction to the devotees. The deities of Rama and his consort Sita will be taken into rounds on the holy river Godavari on a well decorated "Hamsavahana" (on the swan shaped motor launch) amid display of crackers and stupendous illumination. And on the auspicious Vykuntha Ekadasi day on the early hours exactly at 5 am Vykuntha dwarams at Northern Gate will be thrown open for darshan to devotees. The devotees believe that they will attain salvation after having Vykuntha Dwaradarshan on the auspicious day. This holy festival attracts lakhs of pilgrims.

Vaaggeyakaara Mahotsavams
Vaaggeyakara Mahotsavams are being celebrated every year to commemorate Bhakta Ramadasa, a vaaggeyakara and an ardent devotee of Sri Rama. Dhyana Mandir, a prayer hall was constructed in 1972 in memory of Bhakta Ramadasa by Mr. Neelamaraju Venkata Sheshaiah, the then editor of Andhra Prabha by collecting funds from public through donations from Andhra Prabha (Telugu Daily News Paper) readers. Since then, the Vaggeyakaara mahotsavams are being celebrated during Mukkoti Ekadasi by inviting renowned musicians.

Visiting places

Parnashala
This is supposed to be the exact spot where Rama, during his vanavasa in Dandakaranya, constructed a hermitage and spent his exile with his concert Sita and brother Laxmana. Agastya had selected this spot for Rama and is about 35KMs 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 near by stones and the marks of her saree on the rock near Sita Vaagu. These are all the visiting places for the piligrims. 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.

Jattayu Paaka (Yetapaka)
This Place is situated from 2Kms 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 Kms from here, in V.R. Puram Mandal.

Dummugudem
Here Rama is called the Atmarama. The story reveals that Rama killed 14000 demons headed by Kharadeoshana. As the village was said to be built upon the ashes of these demons, the place is named after as Dummugudem.

Gundala
It is a place 5 Kms 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.

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

Nature and its Beauty
The scenic beauty of "Paapikondalu" and "Perantalapalli" a village in the vicinity of "Paapikondalu" cannot be explained by mere words and better be visited. The mighty river Godavari narrows down and passes through a stretch of hills (Paapikondalu) and the resultant picturesque is a visitor's delight.

Location and Route: This hill place is located on Bhadrachalam-Rajahamandry waterway at a stretch of nearly 3 Kilometers all along the pleasure trip on either side of the holy river Godavari. One needs to reach Kunavaram(the location where river Sabari merges into Godavari) by road from Bhadrachalam town which is about 50 KMs and then take a Motor Launch to Rajahmandry on the river Godavari. The traveling distance by motor launch from Kunavaram is about 4 and half hours.

Perantalapalli : (A Tourism Spot) is a remote tribal village in Velerupadu mandal of Khammam District. This village is located on Kunavaram-Rajahmundry water way. A "Sri Krishna Munivaatam" was constructed at this village by Balananda Swamiji in the year 1927.Now this Munivatam is being maintained by a tribal sect Konda Reddys and daily pooja are being performed by them. Beautiful sceneries of Papi Hills and waterfalls at Munivaatam and the peaceful atmosphere at this tribal village will definitely give pleasant look and peace to the visitors. The idol of Shiva under serpent shade was installed in Munivaatam.

Brief History: The history depicts that on one day Balananda Swamy (during 1926) had reached Perantalapalli village while traveling from Rajahmundry to Bhadrachalam on river Godavari in a motor launch and stayed that night .He was enraptured with the pleasant atmosphere and the sceneries at and around the place where he stayed on moon lit night and he came out of the launch to the sand bed on the bank. Then a lady appeared to him and asked him to follow her and disappeared after reaching a place on the river bank covered with shrubs and stream flows. He spent that night there and astonished after seeing Shiva idol under serpent shade in the early morning and decided to construct a mantapam there. That mantapam is named as Sri Krishna Munivaatam. No priests would perform pooja there. The devotees themselves pray the God and perform pooja after having holy dip in river Godavari. Using of non-vegetarian and hunting of animals are strictly prohibited there. All the devotees must maintain silence while spending time there and also performing pooja in this munivaatam. Balananda Swamy after seeing the backwardness of the tribal sect Konda Koyas (Hill Reddys) decided to reform them and took up a project in the line by bringing them to cultured society. Later in 1969, one David Adam, a youngster and a resident of England became a disciple of swamiji and spent in this munivaatam till recently. Now this munivatam is being maintained by the tribals themselves.

Bhakta Raamadaas

Popularly known as Bhakta Raamadaas, he was born Gopanna to Linganna Mantri (a surname he kept as a result of one of his forebears being a minister at the court of a king) & Kadamba (sister of Madanna, a brahmin minister to TaniShah), in 1620 in Nelakondapalli, a small village in Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh. Since childhood, he imbibed his family's interest in spirituality and composed several keertanas on Rama. His devotion to Vaikunta Rama at the temple of Bhadrachalam, a small village in the middle of the jungle on the northern banks of the holy river Godavari, earned him his name Bhadraacala Raamadaas. His guru was Raghunatha Bhattacharya.

Other compositions are positive invocations, favored by traveling minstrels, including the Tondaiman rulers of PudukoTTai in Tamil Nadu, who popularized his songs. Among his other accomplishments is the creation of the whole Ramayana story in the form of a prose-poem, a Choornika. Ramadas described himself in this way in the last verse of his Dasarathi Satakam: "Allana Linga Mantri Suthudu(son), Atreya Gothrudu, Adi Sakha, Kancherla Kulothbhavudu, Gopakavindrudu." Bhadraachala Raamadaas lived for 68 years