Bhadrachalam
Bhardrachalam, the abode of Lord Sri Rama had derived the name from Bhadra - achalam (hill), where Sri Bhadra son of Meru and Menaka had done penance for having dharshan of Lord Sri Rama. Bhardrachalam, situated on the northern bank of holy river Godavari and is famous for the Vaikunta Rama temple and is on the top of a small hill is a pilgrim center. The place is in Andhra Pradesh in Khammam district. The nearest railway station is Kothagudem, Bhadrachalam-Road station, which is around 40 Kms from the pilgrim town. Public Transport is available from the railway station, apart from taxis.
Sri Vaikunta Rama
Sri Rama here is in a very unique posture in many ways. The Lord reveals his full four-armed form in the temple, holding a bow and arrow in His lower hands and Sankhu and Chakram in His upper hands. Sri Rama is seen seated in yogic posture with Sri Sitadevi sitting on His left lap. Standing next to Him is Sri Lakshmana with bow and arrow, affectionately guarding them. All three have their right hands in abhaya mudra, but interestingly, both Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana hold an arrow also in the same mudra. Another interesting aspect of the Lord's form is that the Lord holds His Divine armaments Sankhu and Chakram in the reverse posture. Lord holds Sankhu in His right and Chakram in left hand, unlike in other places. It is believed that the Lord holds the Sankhu in His right hand in order to blow the Sankhu to announce His arrival to Saint Sri Bhadra who was on penance.
Temple of Vaikunta Rama
During seventeenth century Pokala Dhammakka, descendant of Bhaktha Sabari of Ramayana period
was living in Bhadrireddypalem a place near to the present Bhadrachalam. She too is an ardent
devotee of Sri Rama. The presence of Vaikunta Rama and other deities in the middle of the jungle
was revealed to this pious and devoted woman in a dream. She then spotted the site as indicated
in the dream, cleared the jungle and offered puja to the deities. With the help of local villagers
she constructed a small temple for the deities. But the present temple at Bhadrachalam was
constructed by Bhakta Ramdas and the construction of the temple premises is in itself a epic.
This temple and its deities played an important role in the life of Ramadasa. Bhakta Ramadasa
Sri Kancharla Gopanna popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasa or Bhadrachala Ramadasa was born in 1620 AD at Nelakondapalli village of Khammam in Andhra Pradesh and lived for 68 years on this earth.
As per the last verse of his Dasarathi Satakam, his name was Gopanna the son of Linganna Mantri of
Atreya Gotram. The Mantri surname is because of the fact that their ancestors were ministers of the
then King. Born to pious couples Linganna Murthy and Kamamba, Gopanna was brought up as pious and
devoted gentleman. He had developed good taste for music and was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama.
As a good singer he devoted his talents in singing in praise of Lord Rama. Many of his cousins
and nephews were working in the administration of the royal treasury. His nephew Akkanna who was
in the court of then Sultan Taani Shah of Golconda (Abdul Hasan Tana Shah the Nawab of the Qutub
Shahi dynasty) had appointed Goppanna as Tahsildar of present Bhadrachalam region. Construction of Ram temple by Bhakta Ramadasa
As a Rama Bhakta Sri Goppanna while conducting his routines of collection of taxes for the royal
treasury devoted time for spreading Ramanama also. During his course of duty he visited the temple
of Lord Vaikunta Rama at Bhadrachalam. The Rama Bhaktha in him was overwhelmed at the sight of Lord
Vaikunta Rama. The temple then was not in good shape and Goppanna thought that the temple requires
renovation and reconstruction. He made an appeal to the people of the region, to raise funds to
this effect. Basically an agriculture dependent society, they told him to use the tax collected
with a promise to replenish the fund after the harvest. In the hope he will be able to replenish
the amount in time, Goppanna spent the tax money towards the construction of the temple.
After completion of the construction, his miseries started. Sultan Taani Shah of Golconda had
come to know of what Goppanna had done in Bhadrachalam and he dismissed Goppanna from service for
misappropriation of royal funds and sentenced him for twelve years of imprisonment. Goppanna was
kept in prison in Golkonda and tortured by the Sultan. Twelve long years he was kept there and
tortured. Goppanna sought refuge in singing to Lord Rama to get away from the miseries he had to
undergo. The out pour from his anguished heart is now popularly known as ‘Dasaradhi Sathakam’.
His songs are a reflection of the deeply felt bitter - sweet agonies and ecstasies of a devotee
in distress in the form of ‘keertanas’.
Repayment of Goppanna’s debt by Lord Sri Rama.
On hearing His Baktha’s anguish, Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana went to the Sultan’s palace on that
very night woke up Sultan and paid the money due to the royal treasury through Goppanna. Sultan
was perplexed to see the divine looking young lads repaying the money due from Goppanna. The
young lads got the release papers signed by the Sultan. Unaware about the repayment of the money,
next morning Goppanna had found the release papers signed by Sultan in his bedside. To the
astonishment of Sultan the release papers were presented from the prison next day morning.
The mohars repaid by the Lord were brought in front of the Sultan in the morning. The mohars
had the Pattabhishekam scene on one side and the picture of another Rama Bhaktha, Anjaneya
on the other side.
Bhakta Ramadasa the role model
Sultan now realised that he had made a grave mistake by imprisoning Goppanna the Rama Baktha
and the two young lads are non other than Lord Rama and Lakshmana. He gave all the mohars back
to Goppanna and requested Sri Ramadasa to continue his work in Bhadrachalam. The golden coins
paid by Sri Rama are known as Ram Tanka coins. They can be seen even today at Sri Sita Ramachandra
Swamy Vaari Devasthanm at Bhadrachalam. Goppanna the Ramadasa spent the rest of his life and
composed moving poems that inspired Saint Thyagaraja later.
|| Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram ||
|| Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram ||
|| Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram ||
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