Hello everyone, hope all are doing well. First, I would like to wish all the readers a very happy belated Ram Navami. As we are all amazed and mesmerized by the beauty and architecture of the new Ram temple in Ayodhya, today I would like to talk about one more prominent temple that is The Sri Sita Ramachandra Temple.
The Sri Sita Ramachandra Temple, located in the banks of the Godavari River in the town of Bhadrachalam, Telangana, India. This temple is considered one of the Divya Kshetrams of Godavari as well as Dakshina Ayodhya. It is known to be very religiously important for the Indians and people all around the world. It celebrates Ram Navami (a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Rama, on 17th of April every year) with pomp and grandeur, and hosts pujas and celebrations.
As Gloria Feldt rightly said, “Knowing your history can give you the tools to shape your future.” So, let’s dive into the history of the Sri Sita Ramachandra Temple. The history of this temple dates back to the 17th century when a saint composer Kancharla Gopanna, who was also famously known as Bhakta Ramadas, was the Tahasildar (officer in charge of collection of revenues) of the town of Bhadrachalam.
He got this job because of his maternal uncle who approached the Sultan to give his nephew (Kancharla Gopanna) a job. Gopanna, after getting the job, started building this temple using the government’s treasury. As a result, he was later imprisoned in a dungeon at Golconda. He was given 12 years to pay back the money he took from the treasury, and surprisingly on the last day of the 12th year, Lord Rama was said to have come in the Sultan’s dream where Lord Rama paid the money back in Rama madas (gold coins with inscriptions of Lord Rama on them). It is believed that the construction of the temple only finished in the year 1674.
Now, let’s read about the Sri Sita Ramachandra Temple’s interior and exterior architecture. The temple is divided into three parts. The first part consists of the head of Bhadra, where a shrine is dedicated to him. The supposed footprints of Lord Rama can be seen inside a rock structure. The second part of the temple is the sanctum, also known as a Garbhagriha, which houses the central icon residing on a place considered equivalent to Bhadra’s heart. The third and the last part is the Rajagopuram (main tower), which is located at Bhadra’s feet. The central icon which we talked about in our previous lines, is self-manifested. Lord Rama, seated in a padmasana posture has Sita seated on his lap along with Lakshmana (one of the brothers of Lord Rama) on his left. The four hands of Lord Rama hold the conch, disc, bow, and arrow.
The temple can be entered in 4 ways, along with 50 steps to be climbed to reach the main entrance. In the year 1974, a huge door known as the Vaikuntha Dwaram was built to ensure proper management of the devotees visiting the temple. To the right of the sanctum, are some of the festival icons of Lord Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana, which are important places of worship.
The uniqueness of this temple are the festivals celebrated over here with a lot of joy and happiness. Some festivals celebrated here are:
1. Vijayadashami: Vijayadashami, also famously known as Dussehra is a festival celebrated in the temple with a lot of excitement where the Ramayana is to be read for ten days daily. The temple also holds pujas on these 10 days.
2. Vaageykaara Mahotsavams: This festival is celebrated annually to commemorate Bhakta Ramadasa, where renowned and famous musicians visit the town and sing beautiful songs for the people.
3. Rama Navami: Rama Navami marks the birth of Lord Rama and is celebrated on every “Chaitra Shuddha Navami” where hymns are chanted by priests and pujas are held for the devotees.
In conclusion, The Sri Sita Ramachandra Temple welcomes a huge number of visitors and devotees from all around the world annually and is very religiously important for the people of Bhadrachalam. Marking the end of the blog, is a quote said by Mahatma Gandhi, where he says that “Tulsidas’s Ramayana is a notable book because it is informed with the spirit of purity, pity and piety.” Thank You Everyone!
Credits
en.wikipedia.org, www.bhadrachalarama.com, and bhadradritemple.telengana.cov.in for information.
Good, i like the blog.
Nicely written, feels as I am visualising it personally. Your blogs are interesting please keep on posting
This is really insightful, well written!
Interesting facts of sita Ramachandra temple & its festival……. Keep it up 👍
nice read