Vemulawada Temple

The presiding deity Sri Raja Rajeswara Swamy is also called as Rajanna of Vemulawada is in the form of Neela Lohitha Siva Lingam is known for his boundless benevolence in fulfilling the wishes of the devotees.

The shrine is located at the center of the town a top a small hill. The temple has a gateway leading up the hill and a typical south Indian style gopuram marks the entrance to the shrine.

The temple attracts maximum devotees during Shivratri and during Kartik Month (November – December) in Telugu Calendar.

It is believed that if one pulls a bull around the temple one’s wishes will be fulfilled.

Vemulavada is about 180 kms from Hyderabad and 35 kms from Karimanagar.

It is believed that the architecturally beautiful shrine was built between 9th and 10th century by Vemulawada Chalukyas. The Rajeswara temple is obviously so named, either because it was built by Rajaditya which was the Biruda of Narasimha I, of the Chalukyas of Vemulavada, who was the grandson of Vinayaditya Yuddhamalla I, or is named after him.

The shrine has got a holy tank named Dharma Gundam, the waters of the tank is believed to have medicinal properties. 

Legend has it that 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 lords 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.
There are numerous smaller shrines in the temple complex. Important among them are Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy form of Vishnu with Krishna murti in the center and another one dedicated to Sita Ramaswamy. There are also other shrines in the complex dedicated to Shiva and Durga.

The Temple picturesquely stands on the bank of a large Tank which is called as Gudicheruvu. The Garbha – Griha [Mahamandapam] has “Sri Lakshmi Ganapathi”; Lord Raja Rajeshwara in the form of Neelalohitha Siva Linga ; Goddess Sri Raja Rajeshwari Devi and Nandeeshwara facing the Lord. The sanctum sanatorium encloses Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple; Sri Seetharama Chandra Swamy Temple; Sri Anjaneya Sahitha Kasi Visweswara Swamy

This Shrine is popularly known as ‘Dakshina Kasi’ [Southern Banaras] and also as “Harihara Kshetram” for their being two Vaisnava Temples in main Temple complex i.e., Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple & Sri Seetharama Chandra Swamy Temple and Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy is Kesthra Palaka of this Temple being consecrated with Pujas/ festive rituals [both Shivate & Vaisnavate festivals] and Sreerama Navami is the 2nd major festival in this temple.

Religious bodies--temples and mosques are usually found in separate places as devotees of the respective religions prefer to worship at their own place of worship. Exception to this is Vemulawada Sri Rajarajeshwari Swamy temple, popularly known as Dakshina Kasi. As the tomb of a Muslim saint is in the temple premises, both Hindus and Muslims offer obeisance to Lord Shiva and Allah, a fine example of communal harmony.

http://www.vemulawadatemple.org/
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/andhra_pradesh/article147562.ece
http://www.hindu-blog.com/2015/07/vemulawada-shiva-temple-history-and.html