SRI BHADRACHALAM RAMDAS...
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 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 dbet 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 ||