This Temple was built around 600 years ago by Appalacharya Appanna Iyengar. It was built much before the Mughals invaded India. Though the Presiding Deity here is Lord Godha Ranganatha Swamy it is actually Goddess Godha alias Kodhai who gains more prominance here. There are only two Temples in the whole of India for Goddess Aandal Amma. One is in Srivilliputhur in Tamil Nadu, while this Temple is the second and hence it is called as Uthara Srivilliputhur. Godha Devi here is called as Kodhai in Srivilliputhur. While Aandal Amma is a Swayambu here Sri Ranganatha Swamy is found with a mild limp and some support for his elbow. It is said that while Sri Ranganathar was flying high on his Garuda Vahan He tried to jump off it in His anxiety to meet Aandal and hence got the limp on His Elbow. During the Mughal period in the 15th and 16th century Edulabad was known as Rayapuram. It is strongly believed that any unmarried girls who visit here and offer poojas and bangles to the Goddess Goda Devi will get married very soon. The main festivals are Brahmothsavam and Shravana Month, Shakaranthi, Ugadhi, Dasara and Diwali which attract enormous number of Devotees here that time. This Temple is situated near the Lakshminarayana Lake.
Temple Phone Number: 96408-18360
Temple Timing: 6 AM to 12 Noon and 5 PM to 8 PM
Distance from Chennai to Edulabad is 612 Kms
According to history, between the 15th and the 16th century, during the regime of Quli Qutub Shah, Edulabad was known as Rayapuram. At that time, Srinivasa Desika Chary and his family happened to visit this place on a pilgrimage. When Desika Chary died due to ill-health, his wife Alivelamma and her son Appala Desika Chary, settled down at this place. In the same year, a sage came to this place and gave Manthropadesam to the mother and child and told them to construct a temple at this place. In those days, the place was a hillock with dense forest inhabited by wild animals and birds including Garuda Pakshis. Garuda Pakshi is the vahana of Lord Vishnu and as such, this place also came to be known as Garudadri. Alivelamma and her son Appala Desika Chary went to Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple at Srivilliputhur in Tamil Nadu to seek darshan. On the same day, Appala Desika Chary had a dream of Goda Devi, where she asked him to be taken to Rayapuram. The next day, to their surprise, they found an idol in a golden cradle which resembled Goda Devi. They brought the idol to Rayapuram and constructed a small structure.
As the years rolled by, the locals and nearby villagers, thronged the temple in large numbers and developed the temple in a phased manner. The main festivals at the temple include Brahmostsavam and Goda Devi Kalyamam in Sravana Masam (August) followed by all special and visishta sevas during festivals like Sankranti, Ugadi, Dasara, Diwali, among others. There is a strong belief that if unmarried girls perform puja and offer bangles, they will be blessed with marriage offers soon. That is why Goda Devi is also popularly known as Gajula Andalamma.
A young girl was playing around the village when she spotted some colourful bangles. She immediately went to the seller and asked for some bangles. She told him, she had no money, but he could come to this particular house and get paid. She wore the bangles and vanished.
The next day the bangle seller came knocking at the door of a humble man, a priest, and asked for the money. The man argued that he had no daughter but he suddenly thought of the idol inside. When they both went in and checked, there she was standing, her arms full of colourful bangles.
The bangle seller was so impressed that he immediately got a pair of gold bangles made, which apparently Godamma still wears.
Idols of Lord Ranganatha
“People offer bangles as prasadam after their wish is fulfilled,” says Mr Tiruvadandam Porethi Lakshmana Charyulu, the main archaka and the sixth generation of the family which has been looking after the Sri Godha Sametha Mannaru Ranganayaka Swamy temple.
“This ancient temple for Andal was built by our ancestors. Appalacharya Appana Iyengar built this temple around 600 years ago,” he says. A powerful deity, people come here with wishes.
Goddess Andalamma
“This temple was built much before the Moghuls came to India, Though there is no proof, this is a 13th century temple,” says Mr Tiruvadandam Porethi Govindarajulu, the seventh generation of the family.
Working as a branch manager at Akshara Advertising has not diminished his devotion to the temple and the Goddess. “I do not know if the next generation will be interested in doing pujas and looking after this ancient temple,” he says.
“Only Emperor Aurangzeb must have been against Hindu temples, because here at Edulabad when we have rathothsavams Muslims vie with each other to pull the chariot through the village,” he said.
The temple is located in Edulabad village, Ghatkesar mandal, off the Warangal highway and sits quietly near a lake, near several educational institutions. The Lakshminarayana lake is replenished with water from the Erumela vagu. About 2,000 acres of land are cultivated with the water.
———————————
ஸ்ரீ கோயில் கந்தாடை அப்பன் ஸ்வாமிகள் திருவடிகளே சரணம் –
ஸ்ரீ பெரிய பெருமாள் பெரிய பிராட்டியார் ஆண்டாள் ஆழ்வார் எம்பெருமானார் ஜீயர் திருவடிகளே சரணம்
Leave a Reply