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| Bhadrachala Ramadasu (1608-1682) sangeetasudha.org |
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| Telugu and Tamil actor late sri Nagaiah tube.manatelugumovies.ne |
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| Bhadrachala Ramadasu hindupad.com |
Sri Bhakta Ramadasu of 17th century (1608-1682) saint, hailing from Bhadrachalam (now in Telangana State) was an ardent devotee of Sri Rama and built a temple dedicated to 'Him.'
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| Gold coins Bhakta Ramadasu. indiastudychannel.com |
In the earlier time Bhakta Ramadas' original name was Kancharla Gopanna. His parents were Linganna Murthy and Kamamba and he was born and raised in Nelakondapalli village of Khammamett Taluk in the 17th century (1630 AD). Right from the early childhood he had developed sincere devotion to Sri Rama and became an ardent devotee. When he grew up he was employed as the Tahasildar of Bhadrachalam area that was under the control of the Nawab of Golkonda kingdom (famous for kollur diamond mines that produced internationally famous diamonds such as Kohinoor diamond, Orlov diamond, Dresden, etc.). His official duties included redressing people's grievances and revenue collections from revenue lands, etc. In short he had close contact with the local people there. Without fail he sincerely carried on his official duties to the local Nawab, and whenever he had time, he dedicated his it to the chanting of "Rama Nama" feeding the poor at his house.
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| God Sri Ramachandra and consort Seetha, Bhadrachalam |
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| Sree Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Bhadrachalam |
Upon hearing about Jatara (a tribal festival of honoring the goddesses celebrated in the state of Telangana) at Bhadrachalam from the villagers of Paloncha Pargana, Gopanna was anxious to visit Bhadrachalam where he was overwhelmed by the impressive and amazing beauty of the deities. immediately he developed an irresistible obsession for the resplendent idols of Sri Rama and others. A decision had been taken to have a temple built and Gopanna asked the people to contribute liberally for the construction of the temple. The villagers put in a suggestion to him to spend the revenue collections for the temple construction with an assurance by them that the money spent on the temple construction would be repaid after ensuing harvest. With Rs 6 Lakhs collected from the land revenues, he helped the local people construct the temple. In the process he failed to take necessary permission from the Local Nawob. That was a great blunder committed by him in a moment of aberration. Later things went awry, unexpectedly.
The temple almost reached completion but for fixing of the 'Sudarshana Chakra' at the crest of the main temple. Gopanna was concerned about the Chakra and that night he fell into a reverie in which Lord Rama asked him to have a holy dip in the river Godavari where he would find the holy Chakra. Accordingly he found the holy Sudarshana Chakra in the river on the following morning without much difficulty. Later the Chakra was installed in the temple as per Sastras.
In the mean time, the ruler Nawab was furious about the diversion of funds by Gopanna for temple construction without his consent and he was imprisoned for 12 long years for misuse of public funds and consequently underwent untold miseries and pain. Gopanna appealed to Sri Rama to give him relief and composed innumerable devotional songs, extolling the virtues of Sri Rama and emotionally imploring him to relieve him of pain and shame.
The Golconda Nawab Tanisha (the then ruler of Qutub Shahi Kingdom) at last realized his mistake of having jailed Gopanna, upon knowing his deep devotion to Lord Rama. Then a miracle had happened. Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana in the guise of Ramoji and Laxmoji, servants of Bhakta Ramadas repaid six lakhs mohurs, due to the ruler and got a voucher from the ruler.
The temple almost reached completion but for fixing of the 'Sudarshana Chakra' at the crest of the main temple. Gopanna was concerned about the Chakra and that night he fell into a reverie in which Lord Rama asked him to have a holy dip in the river Godavari where he would find the holy Chakra. Accordingly he found the holy Sudarshana Chakra in the river on the following morning without much difficulty. Later the Chakra was installed in the temple as per Sastras.
In the mean time, the ruler Nawab was furious about the diversion of funds by Gopanna for temple construction without his consent and he was imprisoned for 12 long years for misuse of public funds and consequently underwent untold miseries and pain. Gopanna appealed to Sri Rama to give him relief and composed innumerable devotional songs, extolling the virtues of Sri Rama and emotionally imploring him to relieve him of pain and shame.
The Golconda Nawab Tanisha (the then ruler of Qutub Shahi Kingdom) at last realized his mistake of having jailed Gopanna, upon knowing his deep devotion to Lord Rama. Then a miracle had happened. Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana in the guise of Ramoji and Laxmoji, servants of Bhakta Ramadas repaid six lakhs mohurs, due to the ruler and got a voucher from the ruler.
The ruler was wonder struck by the divine looking servants. They kept the voucher under the pillow of Gopanna in the jail room. Following morning, when the Nawab woke up from the sleep realized that those divine servants were none other than Rama and Laxmana who came to the rescue of Gopanna (Ramadas) to clear his name and shame. Surprisingly, the Muslim ruler became a devotee of Sri Rama and helped maintain harmonious relationship between the Hindus and Muslims living there.
The Nawab immediately released Gopanna from the prison and asked for his forgiveness. He returned 20,000 Mohurs to Gopanna which he refused. He just took two Gold coins as a token of 'divinity' attached to them (became they were given by the divine Gods themselves) and they are still being kept at the famous temple. Tanishah granted a part of income from Palwancha pargana for the temple maintenance. He started the tradition of offering pearls on the occasion of Kalyana mahotsavam (Sri Ramanavami) to deities on an elephant through a special messenger and that tradition is still being followed by the families if ex-ruler during the Sri Ramanavami Festival.
Nitya Poojas and sevas right from early morning "Suprabhata Seva" till night "Pavalimpu Seva" before closure of the temple as "Silaasaasanaalu" as prescribed by Bhakta Ramadasu are being followed here. There are inscriptions on two pillars with respect to Seva details to be followed in the temple.
Through devotion to Sri Rama Bhaktha Ramadas attained immortality and his name will last for ever.
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhadrachalam_Temple
The Nawab immediately released Gopanna from the prison and asked for his forgiveness. He returned 20,000 Mohurs to Gopanna which he refused. He just took two Gold coins as a token of 'divinity' attached to them (became they were given by the divine Gods themselves) and they are still being kept at the famous temple. Tanishah granted a part of income from Palwancha pargana for the temple maintenance. He started the tradition of offering pearls on the occasion of Kalyana mahotsavam (Sri Ramanavami) to deities on an elephant through a special messenger and that tradition is still being followed by the families if ex-ruler during the Sri Ramanavami Festival.
Nitya Poojas and sevas right from early morning "Suprabhata Seva" till night "Pavalimpu Seva" before closure of the temple as "Silaasaasanaalu" as prescribed by Bhakta Ramadasu are being followed here. There are inscriptions on two pillars with respect to Seva details to be followed in the temple.
Through devotion to Sri Rama Bhaktha Ramadas attained immortality and his name will last for ever.
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhadrachalam_Temple
K. N. Jayaraman (Author: navrangindia.blogspot.com)
_at_Balligavi.jfif)
