26, సెప్టెంబర్ 2012, బుధవారం

Movva : Sri Krishna Temple

Movva is a village and Mandal in Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

This is the birthplace of the great lyricist "Kshetrayya" also known as "varadayya" who has written many songs on "lord Krishna".

 The above picture is the flooring of the temple embedded with Marbles (golis)

 Sri Movva Venugopala swamy temple

Movva is very famous for temple of Lord Krisha popularly referred as "Movva Gopaludu"

 History of the temple and town in the premises of the temple
There is an old Sivalayam opposite to the  main temple. 
National flag Designer Sri Pingali Venkaiah was born in Muvva taluk (near Batlapenumarru)

24, సెప్టెంబర్ 2012, సోమవారం

Glimpses of Godavari Districts - 2

Yeleru River

The Tallest Gopuram of the 100 years old Sri Rama Temple.
 Gollala Mamidada of East Godavari District

 A view of ruined Temple at Biccavole in East Godavari District
(Possible Ruined Shiva Temple in the middle of the fields)

My self snap at Annavaram in East Godavari District

21, సెప్టెంబర్ 2012, శుక్రవారం

Glimpses of Godavari Districts - 1

East Godavari District  is the second richest district in the whole country.
West Godavari District is known as The Granary of India.
Some of the glimpses (snaps) from these two districts:


 A view of Paddy fields near Eluru By-pass Highway, West Godavari District

 A view of  Tuni town surrounded by Eastern Ghats in East Godavari District.

 An Early Morning view of Pampa Reservoir  near Annavaram in East Godavari District

Yeleru Dam near Eleswaram of East Godavari District. 
(Some amount of drinking water from this reservoir is supplied to Visakhapatnam city)

19, సెప్టెంబర్ 2012, బుధవారం

Madhavadhara: A Buddhist Site Near Simhachalam

 Madhava swami temple, Madhavadhara, Visakhapatnam


This temple is adopted by Simhachalam Temple.
It is located on the south foot hill of Simhachalam.
The diety is Madhava Swamy and the water jet flow here is known as Madhavadhara,
from which the locality got its name.
Some people prefer to take a holy bath in holy dharas (Madhavadhara).


Buddhist settlements on Simhachalam hill-range has come to light during a recent renovation and restoration works taken up by the Endowments Department. This site is presently Documented by the state Archaeology department and study of the site is in progress.



Coming to the point the sand blasting and restoration works on Chalukyan period Madhava Swamy Temple at Madhavadhara was completed recently, which not only exposed the intrinsic fine sculpting legacy of 14th Century A.D., but also some other interesting facts about the construction of the original temple on the base of Buddhist Vihara. The khondalite rocks(available on Eastern Ghats) are used for building the temple along with the Buddhist bricks from the vihara. These two (stones and bricks) possess the same color in general.

 The rock and Brick alignments at Madhavadhara.
 Bricks estimated to be from 3rd Century B.C. are now lying in a heap alongside the temple towards south


These bricks measured 52 cm X 28 cm X 8 cm, with structural characteristics of the bricks used in Buddhist sites in and around Visakhapatnam coastal region. A researcher in Buddhist sites of north Andhra Pradesh, he said there were foundation walls of a Buddhist vihara in the close vicinity.


 Bricks estimated to be from 3rd Century B.C. are now lying in a heap alongside the temple, as the mast is being rebuilt with cement concrete. These Brick remnants are found scaterred from the first tier to the foot tier of the present temples at Madhavadhara.



The possible Buddhist site would have been a  4 -Tier semi terraced Buddhist Monastery  as Remnants of chamber for monks to stay was found between the Mallikarjuna Swamy and Madhava Swamy temples that even today remain unexposed to the world due to several reasons like paucity of manpower and lack of will power among local administrators to permit the work.

 The natural water from the hill to ground at Madhavadhara

One can enjoy the natural beauty of this ancient site and surroundings,
unfortunately the steps way towards Simhachalam is becoming a garbage day by day in the name of rituals
Temples from Madhavaswami Temple below.

Very frequent buses are available from all parts of Visakhapatnam. (Bus no: 48A
 REFERENCE: Article in THE HINDU about Buddhist Site Remains dated