The visit to this Bugga
Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple was a part of the “Shiva and Vishnu Temples/Rock cut
Cave temples of Andhra Pradesh Visit”,
on 24th and 25th June 2023.
Moolavar : Sri Bugga Ramalinga Swami
Consort : Sri Rajarajeswari
Some
of the salient features of this temple are...
The
temple faces west with entrances from the west, North, and South. Rajagopuram up
to bases are on the North and South sides. Two Rishabas with a Deepa sthambam
are on the south side. A Rishabam, Balipeedam, and Dwajasthambam are on the west
side entrance. Stucco images of Shiva and Parvati are on the top of the west side entrance. Moolavar is of
swayambhu, installed on a natural spring. (Spring – Bugga, Penna River). There
are no images in the koshtam.
Ambal is in a separate temple and faces the west
direction, like Moolavar. Sri Kothanda Ramar Sannidhi is facing South, connected with the Ambal Temple
Mukha mandapam.
In
the praharam, Padas are (believed to be of Rama) under the Sthala vruksham Vanni
Tree, A Shiva Lingam with Rishabam, Navagrahas, Nagars, Veerabhadra and
Chandikeswara.
Veerabhadra
ARCHITECTURE
The
North and South side Rajagopurams are up to the base only. Hindu deities, demons,
ladies, dancers, and musical instrument players, the sculptures related to culture
prevailed during that period and occupied the entire surface of the Rajagopuram
base inside without leaving space.
Moolavar
Temple consists of a sanctum sanctorum, an ardha mandapam, and a maha mandapam. The
sanctum sanctorum is on a kapota bandha adhistanam with silambu kumudam.
Kumbha panjaras are between Kostas. The temple was built with stone from
adhistanam to prastaram. A three-tier stucco vimanam is on the sanctum
sanctorum.
Ambal
temple was constructed similarly to Moolavar temple except for the Vimanam as salakara
Vimanam. Musical pillars are in the Mukha mandapam.
The
temple enclosure is perhaps the finest architectural work executed during
the Vijayanagara Dynasty. The sculpture carved on the lower part and up to the cornices of both North
and South Gopuras is cut with exquisite sharpness and precision.
HISTORY AND
INSCRIPTIONS
As
per the priest, this temple was constructed during the Vijayanagara King
Virupaksharaya period, 1460 CE. As per the Archaeological Department’s display board, the temple was constructed
during the 16th Century, most probably by Timmanaidu, a local
governor of the Vijayanagara Dynasty.
Neither
of the Tadipatri temple contain of foundation inscription, but the fact that they are of
Vijayanagara times is a fact that leaps to the eye, but a more precise date has
to be deduced from the inscription they contain. Among
the manuscripts that Colonel Colin Mackenzie, the Collector of historical
artefacts, gathered there is a “Tadpatri
Kafiat”. Documents of this kind are not always historical. They are apt to be a
mixture of fact and fancy. But they
are valuable as preserving the beliefs and Notions of the times, the end of the
Eighteenth century and the beginning of
the Nineteenth.
In
1812 -13 CE, Colonel Mackenzie deputed a person named Ananda Rao to gather
information on Tadpatri. He gathered information from the local people. According
to local information, Tadpatri was established in the Vijayanagara times. Its
Vijayanagara name was Tadpatri. Its first settler was a Brahmin named Narayana
Battu, after Vidyaranya had established the city of Vijayanagara. Narayana, who
was “from the east, sought the assistance of him. Vidyaranya, giving him some
money, told him of a Bhaskara Kshetra on the bank of the pinakini are the
pennar, where there was a tract of palm trees in which some hunters lived.
Narayana was to go there and build a house for himself, “then the village will
develop. Narayana came to “Tallapalli” and built a temple to
Adhinarayanamurthi. South of this temple, at a distance of “Four feet’s” he also
erected a mandapa in which he enshrined an image of Hanuman. Harihara and Bukka, the first Vijayanagara emperors, gave Tadipatri to him as an “Agrahara”.
The
region was under the political control of Gillella Chalapathi Raju, who was
deputed by Bukka for the purpose. Chalapathi Raju built a fort of Gandikota,
about twenty-five Miles east of Tadpatri. It was the headquarters of the region in
Vijayanagara time, and later it became a prominent fortress and was frequently
besieged by invaders. Under Harihara II (1377-1404) CE. Nandala Viraraghava
Raju displaced Chalapathi Raju, who went to Penukonda. Gooty, another important
place in the area along with Yadiki, came under Viraraghava’s change.
The
Pemmasani family, two members of which built the two temples, appears first in
Tadipatri history in the reign
of Praudha Devaraya (1422-1446) CE. This family was one of the many which
provided generals and governors to
the empire for many generations. The emperor sent Pemmasani Timmanaidu as
governor of this region. His headquarters
were Yadiki.
Ramalinga
Timma’s son built the Bugga Ramalingeswara temple. The Chintala Venkataramana
Temple came into being in the next generation. It was built by Timma, a son of
Ramalinga. It too owed its origin to an unusual incident in the “South East”
direction of the village. There was a cluster of tamarind trees. One particular
tree broke into pieces one day and disclosed a Vishnu image inside. Timma, then
living in Gandikota, was informed of this by Uddanda Naidu, a relative of his,
who was governing Tadipatri under him. When Timma arrived in Tadipatri, he
heard a big crackling sound, and he saw the Vishnu image clearly. That night, he
had a dream in which he was told that he should build a temple. This was made
known in the village by public outcry. Timma sent the news to Vijayanagara and
obtained permission to build the temple. The “Kafiat” mention many of the
structures that were built: garbhagraha, suhana sika, soodile, madhyarangam,
asthanam, sowdhanthrala, gopura prahara, stupile panchanalaya, yagasala,
kalyana mandapa, Ashwaradhi mandapa, seshalaya, Garuda mandapa, varahamandapa
and a vahanamandapa. Also mentioned are sculptures and damaged paintings of
Bharata, Ranganatha and Asthadikpalas, Tirumalayaganini and Ramayavaram
Ramacharlu were appointed “archakas”, Golla abaladasni, the storekeeper.
In
1708 CE, Zulfikar Khan, a general of Aurangzeb, destroyed the Rangaswami temple
and mosque on the site. It was handed over to Mir Mohammed, a ‘pahelwan’. The
Venkataramana temple was also damaged. Its mandapa was blasted,
many sculptures defaced, and walls built against doors so that worship ceased.
It
was, however, restored presently. “Tundra Mallu, a Dewan of Daud Khan, renewed
it. He also constructed “forts” and an office
in the temples. Sivirisetti, who is from Mysore, lived in one of the forts. He
built a shrine in the Venkataramana temple
and installed an image of ChennAkesava, providing for worship. Thammaji
Timmappa, a deputy Daud Khan and
an amaldar, Tadipatri fell to Hyder Ali in 1775 CE, and in 1793 CE to the Nizam
of Hyderabad. In 1800, Rayalaseema was handed over to the East India Company.
The British took two or three years to restore order in the region. Sir Thomas
Munro, the principal collector, took considerable interest in its temple. He
ordered that “all the temple” and the kalyana mandapas in the Venkataramana
temple. He also ordered that the temple be properly maintained.
There are two other epigraphs in Tadpatri
which seem to indicate that the two temples are older than the reign of Vira
Narasimha (1505-1509), during which the Ramalinga temple, the earlier of the
two, was erected. But their evidence is far from conclusive. The two
inscriptions, adjudged to be in "15th-century characters", are
fragments and are to be found in the Saiva temple. One records an agreement or
a "sthira sasanam" entered into by an assembly, including
representatives of "ayyavali", who were assembled in a
"maha-mukhamandapa". The second "seems" to mention a gift
of levies such as the "kaddayam, "kanika, and "vidhi
viralam. It mentions "panivojulu" probably as the benefactors of
the gift. The other details are lost.
The
first relevant dated inscription is of Vira Narasimha's reign. Dated 1507 CE,
it occurs in the north-west corner of the prakara of the Ramalinga temple. It
mentions Saluva Timma, the minister. Adjoining it is another epigraph dated two
years later, the last year of Vira Narasimha's reign. It also mentions Saluva
Timma.
There
is an inscription of 1513, when Krishnadevaraya had been on the throne for four
years. There is no one else in this reign. The next in time is of 1540, in
Achutharaya's rule. Occurring in the Saiva temple, it records the remission of
"jodi oppalu" payable by the people of the "sarva-manya
agraharas" of Bhogasamudram and Kaverisamudram in Jagati-Gutti-sima. The
next year, another epigraph in the same temple records, there was a royal gift
of the income from a levy called "maharaja guttalu" given to
Sala-karaju Achutharaju to celebrate certain festivals to the Lord
("Gurunatha")in the temples of Hampi Virupaksha, Tadpatri and two
other places.
The
first inscription of Sadasiva's reign, appearing in the Ramalinga temple, is
dated 1544 and records a gift by many of the "mahajanas" of Tadipatri
to Ramesvaradeva for the "Kartika dipa". The epigraph next in date
occurs in front of the Anjaneya temple in the village of Enumula-chintala, in
Jammalamadugu taluk, in Cuddapah district. Dated 1551, it records the gift of
that village then called Yanamala Chintala, by Chinna Timma Nayudu to Chintala
Tiru-Vengalanatha of Tadpatri for the merit of Aliya Ramap-payya.
The
earliest of the inscriptions in the Venkataramana temple is dated 1563.
Engraved on the gopura, it mentions a gift of land by purchase to meet the
expenses of twenty-seven specified festivals during the year to
Tiruvengalanatha of Tamdiparti. When, twenty-five years later, Pamma-sani
Nayudu made a gift of allowances for Tiruvengala-natha, Rakshas-Tangadi had
been fought, and the Tadpatri temples were about to encounter trouble. As yet,
however, the stream of piety continued to flow. To the same year, 1588, belongs
another inscription which mentions an allotment to Lord Hanumantha of the
"sannidhividhi" out of a provision made for offerings to Chintala
Tiruvengala-natha on the occasion of a lunar eclipse.
These
inscriptions testify to the unassailable faith of the people despite the
hostility of the current rulers. A donor, Lingamma, made in 1594 a gift of land
to provide "tulasi" and "chattupadi" services to
Tiruvengalanatha and Raghu-natha. The last dated epigraph is of 1663. It
records a gift of one "dharanum" for every hundred pagodas by the
inhabitants of Tadpatri to Tiruvengalanatha.
There
are a few undated inscriptions. In the characters of the seventeenth century is
one in the Vaishnava temple recording the homage paid by some persons to
Tiruvengala-natha. In the same temple, there is another epigraph which registers
a monetary transaction. An inscription on a boundary stone south-east of the
village of Timmapuram, in Tadpatri taluk, states that the stone marks the
boundary of the village, the name of which is lost, belonging to Tadipaka
Ramesvara. Another epigraph in the Anjaneya temple in Ellanuru, another village
in the same taluk, "seems" to record a gift of land to Lord Chintala
of Tadipatri. It is in "late characters". The Amman shrine in the
Saiva temple contains an inscription, also in "late characters", recording
obeisance to Ramesvara and Kamakshi Amman by Basavappa and his wife
Naganikamma. Basavappa was the son of Kesavayyanalu. In the Vaishnava temple, there are two inscriptions, one recording obeisance to Chintala-raya by Gundara
пррата оण and the other, in
"late characters", mentioning the cancellation of certain dues
because they had been tampered with.
It
now remains to arrive at the probable dates when the two temples were built
from the three areas of evidence available, traditional, epigraphical and
artistic. The "kafiat" states that Ramalinga, the builder of the
Saiva temple, was a son of Timma, who was the governor of the region under
Praudha Devaraya, emperor from 1422 to 1446. The earliest dated inscription
relevant to the history of this temple is of 1507. How long before this year
the temple came into being, there is no determining. But, following the
principle of assigning a quarter of a century to a generation, it may be
deduced that the temple was built in the last quarter of the fifteenth century.
This
hypothesis, for it is nothing more in the present state of our knowledge, seems
to be strengthened by the statement in the "kafiat" that Yeratima, a
supporter of Aliya Rama in the disputes following Achutharaya's death, made
improvements to the Vaishnava temple, adding paintings. It was in 1543 that
Aliya Rama celebrated the coronation of Sadasiva after having overcome
Salakaraju Timma, or Tirumala. It was only then that he could have felt secure
and in a position to reward his supporters in the late conflicts. All these
facts suggest that the Chintala Venkataramana temple must have been built in
the first quarter of the sixteenth century. This date agrees with the statement
in the "kafiat" that the later temple was built by a son of the builder
of the earlier one.
That
neither could have been built in the second half of the sixteenth century may
be deduced from the fact that this period was full of troubles. Rakshas-Tangadi
was fought in 1565. There is an inscription in the Venkata-ramana temple
recording a gift of land by Pammasani Timma Nayudu in 1578, in the reign of
Sriranga I. But the times were such that no big temple could possibly have been
built. The people's instinctive devotion could be fulfilled only by making
gifts to existing temples. All the best-known temples in the northern provinces
were built in the reigns of Krishnadevaraya and Achutharaya, the Hazara Rama
and the Vittala by the former, the Achutharaya by the latter.
Two
artistic points of comparison are available: the paintings in the Venkataramana
temple and the sculptural style in both. The "kafiat" states that
paintings were added to the Ramalinga temple, but nothing has survived. Those
in the Vaishnava temple bear a close stylistic affinity with those at Lepakshi,
the celebrated temple in the same district, which was built in Achutharaya's
reign. A comparative study of the mandapas in Lepakshi and Tadpatri also
suggests that the two could not have been built at any great interval of time
between the one and the other. The general impression that the art of the mandapas
creates may be described as peaceful exuberance, as distinct from the martial
exuberance of the Vittala temple mandapa, a war manifesto in stone, as it were.
The
few inscriptions believed to be of a date earlier than the last quarter of the
fifteenth century need present no difficulties. That of 1196 is a strayed
epigraph from an earlier building, very probably at Tadpatri. A few others are
stated to be in the characters of the fifteenth century. But palaeography is
not such an exact science that it is possible to mistakenly assign an
earlier period to what really belongs to a later.
It
is a reasonable hypothesis, then, that the Bugga Ramalingesvara temple was
built in the last quarter of the fifteenth century and the Chintala
Venkataramana temple in the first half of the next.
REFERENCES:
1.
Ramaswami. N.S (1976). “Temples of Tadipatri”, (A.P Archaeological series
No.45) (pp.6-12). A.P Govt, Hyderabad,
HYD: Text-Book Press.
2.
V. Jayaprada (1998). “Vijayanagara Temples”. Bharatiya Kala Parakashan, Delhi.
(pp.84-86). Chapters
in Books:
3.
V. Kamesvara Rao (1976). “Vijayanagara Temple of Rayalaseema” (A.P
Archaeological series No.47), (pp.5). A.P
Govt, Hyderabad, HYD: Text-Book Press.
Reconstruction of Rajagopuram in 1979
The royal emblem of the Vijayanagaras
LEGENDS
It
is believed that this Shiva Lingam was installed and worshipped by Rama, hence Shiva
is called Ramalingeswara Swami.
In
another legend, this temple was built where Parasurama did penance and lived.
In
another Legend Ramalinga, the Chieftain’s cow used to shed its milk at a
particular spot. When the spot was excavated, a Shiva Linga was found. Ramalinga
constructed a temple on the same spot.
The Shiva Linga was installed on a natural spring of the River Penna. (Spring
is locally – in Telugu- called Bugga) Hence, Shiva is called Bugga Ramalingeswara.
POOJAS AND
CELEBRATIONS
Apart from regular poojas, special
poojas are conducted on Maha Shivaratri and Brahmotsavam days.
TEMPLE TIMINGS
The temple will be kept open
from 6.00 hrs -12.00 hrs, and from 16.00 hrs - 20.00 hrs.
CONTACT DETAILS
The
Mobile number +9194407 32302 may be contacted for further details.
HOW TO REACH
The
temple is on the banks of the Penna, 1.6 km from the Bus stand, about 4 km from
Tadipatri railway station, 112 km from Kadapa, 249 km from Nellore, and 382 km from Chennai.
The nearest Railway Station is Tadipatri.
LOCATION OF THE
TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
Musical Pillars
Ceiling sculpture
---
OM SHIVAYA NAMA ---
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