Article by Mr. Shankara Narayanan
Vemulawada is a small town 156km from Hyderabad towards North east towards Ramagundem.
It is well known for the Temple complex housing Sri Raja Rajeswara Swamy Temple.a sacred of pilgrimage Centre..
Though this temple does not find any specific mention the puranas,, It is believed that any one with any kind of dosham , will find cleansing from all those.
This temple was built by Chalukya Kings between AD 750 and 975, the complex is named for its presiding deity Sri Raja Rajeswara Swamy, an incarnation of Shiva
Popularly known as Dakshina Kashi (Benaras of South India) . It houses several temples dedicated to other deities including Sri Rama, Lakshmana, Lakshmi, Ganapathy, Lord Padmanabha Swamy and Lord Bhimeshwara. hitectural features include its open galleries (such as the Mirror Gallery Addala Mantapa and a corridor with a number of Shiva idols) and a Dharma Gundam, a holy tank where pilgrims bathe then proceed for darshan and whose water is believed to have curative properties.
Once upon a time god Indra went to many holy places after he killed Vrithasura and still could not purify his life. Then he took the advice from the guru of gods, Bruhaspathi to visit Sri Raja Rajeshwara kshetram. There he took the holy dip in dharma-gundam and took the blessings of lord Sri Raja Rajeshwara and ruled a golden age of the history. By this ancient story, history gives us the evidence of existence of lord Sri Raja Rajeshwara in Krita yuga.
Another historical story about how the dharma-gundam was built. Once upon a time a king named Sri Raja Raja Narendra came to this place while hunting wild animals. But accidentally he killed a Brahmin boy with an arrow while the boy was drinking water from a pond. Then with the curse of Brahma hatya he got an incurable disease and went on pilgrimage to many holy places and returned back to this place. One day he drank the holy water from the dharma gundam and slept the night praying the lord Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy. In his dreams lord shiva asked him, that to take lord’s existence, the lingam from the dharma-gundam and put in a temple.
When the king woke up in the morning he found that his incurable disease got cured. Then he built steps to the dharma gundam and cleaned lord Sri Raja Rajeshwara swamy lingam and built a temple on the hill to keep the lingam inside the temple. But while he was sleeping in the night holy sidhas came and established the gods idol inside the temple. When king was worried about missing the chance to establish the shiva linga, god came in to this dreams and promised that kings name will be associated with the place forever.
It is been said in many mythologies that Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy lingam existed in Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dwapara Yuga. And this holy place was visited and praised by many holy persons in Indian ancient history and got never ending importance in holy pilgrimage. Even though the main deity is Lord Shiva at this place, Sri Kodanda Rama Swamy Aalayam, Sri Ananta Padma Nabha Swamy Aalayam are also have the importance from long time for many pilgrims. Because of that reason this place is also called as “ Hari Hara Khestram”.
Being very close to Hyderabad, it is quite easy take a day trip , starting early morning and returning by 2100 Hrs.
Plenty of APSRTC buses ply from Jubliee Bus stand with a frequency of 50 mts and the running time is approximately 3 Hrs 30 Mts.
Alternatively one can take a bus to Karimnagar and then change over to Vemulawada at Karimnagar.
All the buses are Deluz type buses and are the most reliable.
If you plan to visit with your own vehicle , the timing can be cut down by one hour and either side.
Poojas are performed from 0600 Hrs onwards
Plenty of accommodation is available here , and one need not worry about it. A total of 380 rooms are available from recoganised lodges. The charges varies from Rs 1500 for AC accommodation to Rs 50 for Non AC per day.
Food available will be of Telungana type , with little extra spice. Carry your own drinking water, and plenty of biscuits.
