SUMMARY :
Amaravathi is on the southern bank of the River Krishna in Guntur
district.Amaravati is located in Sattenapalle Taluk, 35 km from Guntur
and approximately 47 km from Vijaywada. Sattenapalle (sattenapalli) is a town
and a municipality 20 miles west of Guntur City in Guntur district. Amaravati,
an ancient city, locally known as Dipaldinne or 'Hill of Lamps',Amaravathi is famous for
its Amareswara temple where the Shrine of Lord Shiva is worshipped in the
name of Amara lingeswara/ Amareswara. deriving its name from the first
worshipping deity Indra, known as the king of deities.The temple is one
of the famous Pancharamas .The temple was later developed by
Sathavahanas. as Amaravathi was capital of their city,It was also called
Dhanyakataka & Dharnikota. (Town of Paddy)This place is also one of
the Datta kshetras where Lord Dattatreya is worshipped. Amaravati contains a
huge Buddhist stupa covered with marble sculpture built in pre-Mauryan times.
which is 38 metres high and has a number of carvings describing the life of
Buddha. Today Amaravati was considered the most sacred pilgrim centre of
Buddhists in India
History
:
As per Vajrayana traditional sources the Buddha
preached at Dharanikota/Dhanyakatakam and conducted Kalachakra ceremony, which drives Amaravati back
to 500 BCE.This shows that Dhanyakatakam (Amaravati) was a very important place
at the time of composition of this tantra. Amaravathi was the capital of Andhra
Satavahanas who ruled from 2nd century BCE to 3rd century CE, Later Andhra
Ikshvakus , Pallava kings ruled Krishna river valley. After then Eastern
Chalukyas and Telugu Cholas took control over the region. Kota Kings were in
control of Amaravati during the medieval times.Kakatiyas conqured
Kota kings in 11th century CE and Amaravati became part of the unified Telugu
empire.
The
stupa :
During the rule of emperor Ashoka a great Buddhist stupa was
built at Amaravathi.The stupa was decorated with carvings describing the
life history of Buddha.Dharanikota near Amaravati was made the capital of
the city during the Satavahana period (2nd century BCE-3rd century CE), As the
place between Krishna and Godavari rivers was an important place for Buddhism
some ancient sculpture in low relief has been found here.During the decline of
buddhism this stupa was also neglected .
In the
year 1796 CE, Colonel Colin Mackenzie, visited the site and
prepared drawings/ sketches of the place later several European scholars
including Sir Walter Smith, Robert Sewell, James Burgess and Alexander Rea
recovered many unearthed sculptures that were earlier decorated to the stupa.
the stupa was richly adorned with carvings which include the teachings of Buddha,his life
history and events of Jataka Stories,This Stupa is India's biggest
heap, built in 3rd century BC, was made of brick with a circular dome measuring 27 meter in height
and 50 meters in diameter. The rectangular shape platforms of this Stupa
is projecting into four cardinal directions measuring 7.20 X 2.10 meters each.
This stupa related to the Vajrayana teachings of Kalachakra, is still practiced in
Tibetan Buddhism. Amaravati artis known for its three major styles of
ancient Indian art, exhibit Ancient Romanstyle,Gandhara style and the
Mathura style. History revealed that Chinese traveller/ Buddhist monk called Xuanzang visited
Amaravati in 640 CE, stayed for sometime and studied 'Abhidhammapitakam and
wrote a glorious account of Viharas and the residence of religious community
that existed here.Recent excavations revealed the
remains of an Ashokan pillar, which would be the first example of Mauryan art
to be found in South India.
On the bank of river Krishna the famous Amareswara temple is located on a small hill konwn as Krouncha Shaila in Amaravti about 15 miles away from Guntur.The Shrine of Lord Shiva is worshipped in the name of Amara lingeswara/ Amareswara.Lord Shiva in five linga forms namely. Pranaveswara. Agesteswara. Koseleswara, Someswara and Parthiveswara is worshipped. Lord Amareswara is accompanied by his wife Bala Chamundika facing towards south direction is considered as the fourth of the 18 goddesses.The temple is one of the famous Pancharamas other four include Draksharama,Kesheerarama,Bheemarama and Kumararama.The specialty of pooja here is Abhisheka done from the upstairs, as the tip of the shiva cannot be reached from the ground level. The temple was later developed by Sathavahanas. as Amaravathi was capital of their city,This place is also one of the Datta kshetras where Lord Dattatreya is worshipped.
Amaralingeswara swamy is present on Krouncha giri, a small hill, The temple campus is very large and it has three circles. In the first circle we can see temples of Mahishasura mardini, Veerabhadraswamy, Omkareswara swamy ,Guru Dattareya, and Agasteswara swamy. In the second circle we can see temples of Vinayaka,Kalabhairava, Anjaneya, Nagendraswamy, Kumaraswamy and an idol of Lord Krishna under a tree. From the second circle there are some steps showing in upward direction to reach the third circle were we can find the temples of Kasi Viswanatha,Mallikarjuna, Pushpadanteswara swamy,and Kalahasthiswara. In the middle of these three circles the temple of Amaralingeswara swamy is present. where a tall Shivalinga can be seen. The base of Shivalinga in the temple is not seen as the temple was built in two stairs hinding the base. which stops the Krishna river entering the temple. The temple is surrounded by gopuras on all four sides in usual Dravidian style. The Amareswara temple walls having lot of inscriptions giving information about the kings who ruled over the area.Another specialty of the temple is the river Krishna, flows adjancent to the temple of lord Amareshwara in north- south direction for a short distsance while the main river flows from west to east. The ritual dip in this river is considered to be holy and praiseworthy.
The present shrine of Amaralingeswara (Lord Shiva) temple is associated with Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu who ruled the region before the advent of the British rule (See Amararama). People around Amaravati widely believe that he temple was constructed to install peace after a massacre of 1000 violent tribesman plotting against the king in a sinister carnival organized to capture them. Later Venkatadri Nayudu built a temple in the same spot upon guidance from scholars of his court. He was well-known for his benevolence , munificence and construction of a large number of temples and education centers in the Krishna river delta.
Extra temple Information :
• one can visit the temple in between 6 am to 1pm and after 4 pm to 8 pm.
Amareswara swamy temple :
• Ideal time to visit the temple is during the
Festival of Maha Shivaratri, Navaratri and at the time of Kalyana Utsavas .
• Darshanam tickets starting from Rs 20 (There
is also free darshanam available).
• Temple incharge include Guduru Subba Rao (Asst.
Commissioner & Executive Officer)
Sri Dabbugunta
Venkateswarlu (Superentendent)
• Tourists can avail accomidation at the Tourist
complex or PWD travellers bungalow.
TEMPLE POOJA RELATED INFO :
• The ticket for Nithanadana padakam is Rs 1116/- (once in a year annadanam is done)
TEMPLE POOJA RELATED INFO :
• The ticket for Nithanadana padakam is Rs 1116/- (once in a year annadanam is done)
• The
ticket for Nithya abhisheka
padakam is Rs. 3016/-(Eligibility till one year)
• Masa shivarathri Abhishekam ticket Rs. 216/-
(Eligibility for 12 masa shivarathrulu)
• Karthika masa Abhishekam ticket Rs.
516/-(Eligibility 1 month in karthika masa)
• Dasara Navarathri ticket Rs.
216/-(Eligibility 10days at the time of dasara)
• The Rs. 516/- ticket is eligible offer pooja
to Amavaru on evry friday through out the year.
• The Abhishekam on our Gothranaman is
done once in a year as per our mentioned date ticket costing Rs516/-.
• The Nithya pooja padakam ticket Rs.1516/-
(Eligible for Ashtothara pooja till 1 year).
Stories Relating to Amaralingeswara swamy :
There are many stories telling the importance of Amaravathi temple.
1) History revals that the land of Amaravati was earlier known as the house of the gods.( the devas. the yakshas and the kinnaras). It said that in order to get relif from the illtreats of demon Tarakasura these gods performed penances to Lord Shiva to destory the mighty demon(Tarakasura ) .Lord Subramanya the son of Shiva kills Tarakasura. The legend says that the Shivalingam was shattered into five pieces among which the biggest piece of white marble is worshipped at Amaravati temple. As soon as the linga fell here it was growing longer and longer towards the sky. Then Devendra planted a nail in it’s top and it stopped growing then the shiva linga bleeded and those blood markings are now revealed as stripes on the linga. it is said that the Lingam was installed by Lord Devendra/indra king of devas, Brihaspati the guru of the Devas and Sukra the preceptor of the Asuras at the end of Dwapara Yugam,
2) Another story Panditaradhya Charitham telling the imporatnce reveals that Sripati Panditaradhya known as the embodiment of Lord Mallikarjuna swamy. who was born directly from Srisaila Mallikarjuna swamy jyotirlinga at the time of Lingodbhava on Shivarathri . He started Surya Simhasana Panditaradhya peetham and spread devotion on Lord Shiva. Some Buddhist monks misguided the king,and the king want to test Panditaradhya's greatness While he was wandering in Kondaveedu area, The king removed the eyes of Sripati Panditaradhya three times, but surprisengly Sripati Panditaradhya got his eyes back two timesn normally. On third time the king removed the eyes and destroyed them and also pour Calotropis milk ( poisonous plant) in sockets of Panditaradhya's eyes. But this time though he got his eyes back he was able to see only with one eye.Later when he visited Amaralingeswara swamy he got complete vision. This shows the greatness of both Sripati Panditaradhya and Amaralingeswara swamy.
3) Many years ago some people belonging to a paticular group called chenchu, looted the surrounding villages disobeying the king. It was called chenchula peturi. Knowing this the king was angry and ordered his army produce them infront of him.later the soldiers made the people to stand in a row and mercilessly chopped their heads. The king was punished by Lord Amareshwar for mercilessly of kílling the innocent people.The king became blind and was unable to eat food because of his false perception that the food seemed to be worms. As days passed the king became weak and suffered a lot. Then the ministers of the king called for great savant (pundits) to their kingdom asking them to show a way to get rid of their kings suffering. Then the pundits revealed the fact that the king was cursed for his sin of kílling innocent people. they advised the king to undertake Rudra abhisheka for lord Amareswara for 11 days 11 times a day which can make him get rid of his suffering.As said by the pundits the king Immediately performed Rudraabhisheka for Lord Amaraswara with great devotion. then he was blessed by Lord Amareswara and got his vision back and was able to eat. Later Lord Amaralingawara appeared in his dream and ordered the king to place shiva linga in the place he kílled the innocent people. The king obeyed the order and he placed 108 shiva linga in the places and built temples. It is believed that worshipping those shiva linga prevents the sin of kílling someone by mistake.
Stories Relating to Amaralingeswara swamy :
There are many stories telling the importance of Amaravathi temple.
1) History revals that the land of Amaravati was earlier known as the house of the gods.( the devas. the yakshas and the kinnaras). It said that in order to get relif from the illtreats of demon Tarakasura these gods performed penances to Lord Shiva to destory the mighty demon(Tarakasura ) .Lord Subramanya the son of Shiva kills Tarakasura. The legend says that the Shivalingam was shattered into five pieces among which the biggest piece of white marble is worshipped at Amaravati temple. As soon as the linga fell here it was growing longer and longer towards the sky. Then Devendra planted a nail in it’s top and it stopped growing then the shiva linga bleeded and those blood markings are now revealed as stripes on the linga. it is said that the Lingam was installed by Lord Devendra/indra king of devas, Brihaspati the guru of the Devas and Sukra the preceptor of the Asuras at the end of Dwapara Yugam,
2) Another story Panditaradhya Charitham telling the imporatnce reveals that Sripati Panditaradhya known as the embodiment of Lord Mallikarjuna swamy. who was born directly from Srisaila Mallikarjuna swamy jyotirlinga at the time of Lingodbhava on Shivarathri . He started Surya Simhasana Panditaradhya peetham and spread devotion on Lord Shiva. Some Buddhist monks misguided the king,and the king want to test Panditaradhya's greatness While he was wandering in Kondaveedu area, The king removed the eyes of Sripati Panditaradhya three times, but surprisengly Sripati Panditaradhya got his eyes back two timesn normally. On third time the king removed the eyes and destroyed them and also pour Calotropis milk ( poisonous plant) in sockets of Panditaradhya's eyes. But this time though he got his eyes back he was able to see only with one eye.Later when he visited Amaralingeswara swamy he got complete vision. This shows the greatness of both Sripati Panditaradhya and Amaralingeswara swamy.
3) Many years ago some people belonging to a paticular group called chenchu, looted the surrounding villages disobeying the king. It was called chenchula peturi. Knowing this the king was angry and ordered his army produce them infront of him.later the soldiers made the people to stand in a row and mercilessly chopped their heads. The king was punished by Lord Amareshwar for mercilessly of kílling the innocent people.The king became blind and was unable to eat food because of his false perception that the food seemed to be worms. As days passed the king became weak and suffered a lot. Then the ministers of the king called for great savant (pundits) to their kingdom asking them to show a way to get rid of their kings suffering. Then the pundits revealed the fact that the king was cursed for his sin of kílling innocent people. they advised the king to undertake Rudra abhisheka for lord Amareswara for 11 days 11 times a day which can make him get rid of his suffering.As said by the pundits the king Immediately performed Rudraabhisheka for Lord Amaraswara with great devotion. then he was blessed by Lord Amareswara and got his vision back and was able to eat. Later Lord Amaralingawara appeared in his dream and ordered the king to place shiva linga in the place he kílled the innocent people. The king obeyed the order and he placed 108 shiva linga in the places and built temples. It is believed that worshipping those shiva linga prevents the sin of kílling someone by mistake.
Transport :
As
per their intrest and convience there are many alternate modes of
transportation available here.
By Air
: Vijayawada
Airport is the nearest one located 52 km from Guntur. there are many government
and private buses available to Guntur.
By
Train: Vijayawada Junction is the main junction Guntur is 32 km from
here. Other nearby stations are Pedakkurapadu,Lingamguntlawhich are 19 km -20
km from Guntur approximately.
By
Road: Amaravathi
is connected with Guntur by well motorable roads. Excellent private and
government buses takes to Amaravathi from Guntur.
Once
you reach the temple, walk towards the right side. where you will
find a small office selling tickets for different Poojas and darshans.