Book VIT to Andhra Pradesh Temples 5 Days Tour

About Sri Varasidhi Vinayaka Swamy Temple
Vinayaka Temple or Sri Varasidhi Vinayaka Swamy Temple is a Hindu temple of Ganesha. It is located at Kanipakam in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The temple is about 11 km from Chittoor and 68 km from Tirupati.

According to legend, there were three brothers who were mute, deaf and blind. They were digging a well to fetch water to their field. The device they were using fell into the well hitting hard object. When they dig further blood started to gush out of the well and the three got rid of their disabilities. The villagers rushed to the spot and found deity of Ganesha. Villagers dig further, but they were not able to find the base of the deity. The deity sits in the well which is always full of water.

About Lord Venkateswara Temple
Venkateswara Temple is a landmark Vaishnavite temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala at Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Temple is dedicated to Lord Sri Venkateswara, an incarnation of Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared here to save mankind from trials and troubles of Kali Yuga. Hence the place has also got the name Kaliyuga Vaikuntham and Lord here is referred to as Kaliyuga Prathyaksha Daivam. The temple is also known by other names like Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Temple, Tirupati Balaji Temple. Lord Venkateswara is known by many other names: Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa.

Tirumala Hills are part of Seshachalam Hills range. The hills are 853 metres above sea level. The Hills comprises seven peaks, representing the seven heads of Adisesha. The temple lies on the seventh peak -Venkatadri, on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini, a holy water tank. Hence the temple is also referred to as "Temple of Seven Hills". Tirumala town covers about 10.33 sq mi in area.

The Temple is constructed in Dravidian architecture and is believed to be constructed over a period of time starting from 300 AD. The Garbagriha is called AnandaNilayam. The presiding deity, Venkateswara, is in standing posture and faces east in Garbha griha. The temple follows Vaikhanasa Agama tradition of worship. The temple is one of the eight Vishnu Swayambhu Kshetras and is listed as 106th and the last earthly Divya Desam. The Temple premises had two modern Queue complex buildings to organize the pilgrim rush, Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam complex for free meals to Pilgrims, hair tonsure buildings and a number of pilgrim lodging sites.

It is the richest temple in the world in terms of donations received and wealth.The temple is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily (30 to 40 million people annually on average), while on special occasions and festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 500,000, making it the most-visited holy place in the world. In 2016, it was reported that 27.3 million pilgrims visited the temple.

There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala. According to one legend, the temple has a murti of Lord Venkateswara, which it is believed shall remain here for the entire duration of the present Kali Yuga.

About Sri Kalahasteeswara Temple
Srikalahasti is one of the Pancha Bootha Sthalam and represents the Vayu Sthalam . This temple is located in Chittoor district in Andhra pradesh. SriKalahasthi temple is situated 36kms away from Tirupathi and it is the only shrine for the God of Vayu . This temple was constructed by the Chola King, Rajendra Chola . Vayu is incarnated as Lord Shiva and worshipped as Kalahasteeswara. Goddess Parvathi devi is worshiped here as Gnanaprasunambika.

Lord Vayu performed penance for thousands of years to "Karpoora lingam" (Karpoora means camphor). Pleased with his penance, Lord Shiva manifested before him and said, "O Vayu Deva! though you are dynamic in nature, you stayed here without movement and did penance for me. Iam pleased with your devotion. I shall grant you three boons". Lord Vayu said, "Swami! I want to be present everywhere in this world. I want to be an integral part of every Jiva who is none other than the manifestation of Paramatma. I want to name this Karpoora Linga, which represents you, after me. Shiva said," Your are qualified for these three boons. As per your wish, you will be spread throughout this world. Without you there will be no life. This linga of mine will forever be known all over through your name. Lord Shiva disappeared after granting these boons. Thereafter, this Karpoora Vayu Lingam is worshipped by all Lokas (worlds).

There are other legends connected to the glory of the temple. Prominent among them is of Parvati (Gnanaprasunnamba) who was cursed by Lord Shiva to discard her heavenly body and assume the human form. To get rid of the above curse Parvati did a long penance here. Pleased with her deep devotion Lord Shiva again recreated her body – a hundred times better than her previous heavenly body and initiated various mantras including the Panchakshari. Consequent to this, Parvati gained fame and came to be known as Shiva-Gnanam Gnana Prasunamba or Gnana Prasunambika Devi.

About Sri Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple
The shrine of GOD Mallikarjuna picturesquely situated on a flat top of Nallamalai Hills, Srisailam is reputed to be one of the most ancient kshetras in India. It is on the right side of the River Krishna in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. This celebrated mountain is also named as Siridhan, Srigiri, Sirigiri, Sriparvatha and Srinagam. It has been a popular centre of Saivite pilgrimage for centuries.

The prominence of this Divya Kshetram is highlighted by the fact that while performing our daily household rituals we specify place of location of our existence with reference to Srisailam.

About Nava Narasimha Temples
Ahobilam is located in Karnool district of Andhra Pradesh in the hills of the eastern ghats, about 400 KM northwest of Chennai.

The temple consists of nine shrines to Lord Nrisimha located around a 5 KM circle. In addition to the nine shrines, there is a temple for Prahaladavarada Varadhan in the foothills of the mountain. Due to security reasons and the difficulty in performing daily worship, many of the utsava vigrahas of the nine shrines are kept in this temple.

Garuda wished for a vision of Lord Nrisimha in the form of the Avathara. To fulfill his wish, the Lord settled in the hills around Ahobilam in the midst of dense forests in nine different forms. For this reason this hill came to be known as Garudadri, Garudachalam, and Garudasailam.

Ahobilam is the place where the Lord killed Hiranyakasipu and saved Prahalada. Mahalakshmi took avathar as Senjulakshmi among the Senju, tribal hunters of the hills, and married the Lord.

Sri Ahobila Muth, one of the most important Sri Vaishnava religious institutions in India, was established by Sri Athivan Satakopan at the instructions of Lord Lakshmi Nrisimha of Ahobilam. In fact, the utsava moorthy of the Malola Nrisimha temple, one of the nine shrines of Ahobilam, is the presiding deity of Sri Ahobila Mutham. Sri Malolan accompanies Srimad Azhagiya Singar, the spiritual and titular head of Sri Ahobila Mutham, on his travels.

Thirumangai Azhvaar has sung ten verses about this temple in Periya Thirumozhi.

About Mahanandishwara Temple
Thimmapuram village, well-known as Mahanandi village and is home to the famous 1500 year's old Mahanandishwara Temple. Mahanandi is situated at about 20kms from Nandyal in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. Mahanandi is a beautiful temple town and the existence of the famous Mahanandishwara Temple, with presiding deity of Lord Siva, makes this place religiously significant. This temple town is located at the east of Nallamala Hill ranges with nine temples of Nandi (Nandi- bull which is considered as the vehicle of Lord Siva) situated within a range of 15kms of radius.

Mahanandi is one of the nine Nandis, surrounding which there are eight temple of Nandis. They are: Prathama Nandi situated near the Nandyal railway station, Naga Nandi is inside Anjaneya temple to the west of Nandyal, Soma Nandi which lies towards the east of Nandyal near Atmakur, Surya Nandi is located four miles east of Nandyal and six miles west of Mahanandi, Vishnu Nandi also known as Krishna Nandi is located about two miles from Mahanandi, Vinayaka Nandi is situated towards northwest of the main temple, Shiva Nandi is nearly 13kms from Nandyal and Garuda Nandi lies to the west of Mahanandi temple. All the nine temples of Nandiswara are equally sacred but of all these temples, Mahanandi receives more name and fame.

About Sri Raghavendra Swamy Matha
Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt belongs to the lineage (parampara) of Hamsa naamaka Paramaatma, adorned, in the early phase of its history, by various Tapaswis and Rishis. Sri Madhwacharya, the proponent of Dwaita Vedanta, had formally launched this Mutt, with His Sishya, Sri Padmanabha Tirtha as its Prime Guru. Many scholarly Gurus and Tapaswis, such as, Sri Jayatirtha, Sri Ramachandra Tirtha, Sri Vibudhendra Tirtha, Sri Jitamitra Tirtha, Sri Raghunandana Tirtha, Sri Surendra Tirtha, Sri Vijayindra Tirtha, Sri Sudhindra Tirtha and Sri Raghavendra Tirtha, have embellished this Parampara, by taking upon the position of Main Pomtiff of this Mula Mutt. In view of the significant distinction of Sri Raghavendra Tirtha, to the mystic, spiritual and intellectual domains of human life, this Mutt came to be known as Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt, since the period of Sri Raghavendra Tirtha.

Whatever be the claims of many other Mutts, Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt has been adored and heralded as the Main Mula Mutt in the tradition of Sri Madhwacharya.

The prominent Pontiffs of this Mutt, who have contributed to the cause of propagation of Madhwa Philosophy by writing profound Books of Philosophy, and to that of realising the welfare of the devotees, in a committed manner, to name only a few are the following: Sri Yogindra Tirtha, Sri Surindra Tirtha, Sri Sumatindra Tirtha, Sri Upendra Tirtha, Sri Vadindra Tirtha, Sri Varadendra Tirtha, Sri Dhirendra Tirtha, Sri Sushilendra Tirtha, Sri Suvratindra Tirtha, Sri Suyamindra Tirtha, Sri Sujayindra Tirtha, Sri Sushamindra Tirtha and Sri Suyatindra Tirtha. The present Pithadhipati of this Glorious Parampara of Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt, is Sri Sri Subudhendra Tirtha.

It is in Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt, that the Vigraha of Sri MulaRama, originally worshipped by Sri Chaturmukha Brahma, the Vigraha of Sri Digvijaya Rama, originally worshipped by Sri Madhvacharya, the Vigraha of Sri JayaRama, originally worshipped by Sri Jayatirtha, are being worshipped with devotion and gaiety, by the various Pontiffs, of this Parampara.

About Veerabhadra Temple
The Veerabhadra temple is in Lepakshi in the Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Built in the 16th century, the architectural features of the temple are in the Vijayanagara style with profusion of carvings and paintings at almost every exposed surface of the temple. It is one of the centrally protected monumemts of national importance. The fresco paintings are particularly detailed in very bright dresses and colours with scenes of Rama and Krishna from the epic stories of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas and they are well preserved. There is a very large Nandi, mount of Shiva, about 200 metres away from the temple which is carved from a single block of stone, which is said to be one of the largest of its type in the world.

About Shri Manjunatheshwara Temple
Kadri Manjunatheshwara temple being one of the ancient historical temple dating back about 1068 A.D. is very interesting place. The Manjunatha temple, Kadri belongs to the Vijayanagara style of structure. From its present form, it may be inferred that during the 15th or 16th century A.D., it must have been given a solid structure. The scenic beauty of the Kadri hills, the presence of the pre-historic caves cut into the laterite mounds and the historical and religious importance of the Manjunatha temple lend particular enchantment to this centre. On the Kadri Hill is situated the biggest centre of the Natha Pantha (cult) in South India. The caves of Kadri hill have to be archeologically examined.

There is considerable construe on the name Kadri. It is derived from Kadari, meaning plantain and that Kadri was known to have been overgrown with plantain trees. But this could only be a too commonplace meaning. According to the Buddhist enumerator Kadarika means a hillside pastures land. The earliest reference to this place is in the epigraph dated A.D.968 engraved on the pedestal of the famous Lokeshwara image. In it is mentioned that King Kundavarma of the Alupa Dynasty installed the image in Kadarika Vihara. From this we can know that Kadarika is the earliest form of this place name. Vihara is the name given in Buddhlet settlement while Buddhism flourished here during 10th century A.D.