Srikakulam Part 3--- Srikurmam --- 2nd incarnation of lord vishnu of dasavatharam

Route: Srikakulam  Arsavalli to Srikurmam

NH—5 (Chennai -Kolkata NH)

Vehicle: Honda Activa

Trip members :2

Photography : allowed (no fee) (not allowed inside Sanctum Sanctorum)

Temple timings: 6am -8 pm with short darshan breaks

Date of travel:  9^th June 2016 (Wednesday)

Trip plan !!!!!

To cover Arsavalli, Srikurmam, Srimukhalingam, Tekali Yendala Mallikarjuna Swamy

Journey  from Srikakulam Arsavalli to Srikurmam  on Honda Activa !!!!!

Started from Arsavelli arrived at arsavelli  archway from here take right diversion which leads to srikurmam & left diversion leads back to arsavelli village then to srikakulam NH.we started  to srikurmam till now every thing went well .we crossed some tiny villages and entered into a road which leads to  kalingapatanam.At one point of palce on right side we see an arch ,gateway to srikurmam which is under construction now.so we need to take mud road a side  and soon hitted the village road.roads are pretty well maintained even in villages.After crossing the farms ,on right side we have a bright coloured  gate way which is the abode of srikurmam temple.The temple looks as newly built from outside but inner temple takes us back dated era.

 When we entered into temple there was a break time for maha nivedhana to Lord. So temple was closed for 20mints.Mean while i was engaged in photography and took a stroll in temple surroundings,here i have seen star turtles more than 100 ,they are in caged area from protection of theives and devotees offering food to them which usually sold by vendors at temple entrances.They offer  raw vegetables to these tortoises.We have taken special ticket 10/- for darshan and enterd into temple and sat in hall before main entrance of temple. The hall ,the doors  takes us back to Kings ruling era.

Srikurmam!!!!!

Srikurmam is the only temple in the whole world of kurmavatara where Kurma means tortoise  ,it is 2^nd incarnation of lord Vishnu's  dasavatharam.

Lord Vishnu is worshipped here in the form of tortoise and is known as Moksha Sthanum,located at about 16kms to south east of srikakulam town.The temple is believed to be of threthayugam (during srirama era),exact history of temple was not known.It was constructed before 2^nd century & cholas developed this temple .As per the temple inscriptions the outer structures are constructed many times and latest spire and inner prakara is dated back to  700 years.

Main deity!!!!

The main deity is not carved by Man , But the Fossil of an actual (large size )turtle.The head of the diety is in the form of kurma and represented by vishnu namam.The tail represented by a saligrama presented by Adi Shanaracharya.

History of temple

Story 1: During Krutha Yuga –a pious king –swetha  Maharaja observed penance for many years to fulfill his wish.lord Vishnu manifested (swayambhu) here in the form of Kurma (Tortoise).Lord Brahma offered primary rituals &consecrated  with Gopala Yantra and sudarsana saligrama at tail part of Kurmanatha.

Story 2 :Another story of this temple was:-- Once devendra mistook srikurmanatha for someone engaged in deep penance trying to seize his throne and sent thilothama took bath in the pushkarini and after seeing the Lord,she decided to stay here forever in service to Lord.At the long Obsence of tilothama ,a gandharava was sent in search of her .Tilothama went again to devendra and was asked by him to dance .her dance made the gathered audience loose their consciousness.The rishis recovered their senses but one among them chaitratapa could not stop thinking of the dancer and the other rishis laughed at him.Out of terrible wrath chaitratapa cursed them and they became asses.Tilothama again came down to srikurmam and took head bath in pushkarini  and she was drying her hair .The asses ,transformed  rishis were grazing  at the pushkarini ,drops of water from her hair fall on the asses and turned them into rishis.The celestial dancer thilothama became devotional and renunciated desires here.

This incident described in the 20^th chapter of Padma purana from Swetha Girimahatyam.

Swetha Pushkarini (Lake infront of temple)!!!!

It is formed by Sudarshan chakra and has cosmic cleansing powers.GoddessLakshmi emanated from this lake and is called as Srikurma Nayaki in varada mudra posture seated on garuda vahana.

This sacred pond is one  of the eight such ponds in the Srikurmam shrine spread over a distance of about 30kms.

It is believed that mother ganga comes from kasi  takes bath every year on magha sudha chavithi to cleanse herself.Here  people perform last rites of the deceased & drop the asthika’s (ashes) in it.

Facts of temple!!!!

After Cholas ,Kalingans (Ganga Dynasty ruled this area, from 7^th century the temple was got into fame.

Anangabheema ,the successor of Gangaraja Dynasty built the floor &top of the temple in 12^th century.

The architecture of the temple is called as Gandarva Silpa Sampada.The architecture is mixture of Andhra & Kalingan basically of Rekha-nagara an architecture style.

The temple consists of almost 200 black granite pillars with unique sculptures & two flag poles (dwajasthambhams).

The occupation of temple & lake was written in Padmapurana & bhramanda Purana written by vedavyas maharshi.
The unique stones of on the floor in the pradakshina mandapam (circumambulatory passage) are said to give magnetic energy into the devotees through their feet.

The temple has mukha mandapa which leads to antharalaya then to garbha gruha .The spire is octogonal sikhara adorned by a khalasa.

The temple is supposed to have been built out of a face rock.There are many inscriptions on the pillars of the temple ,most of them in Devanagari (scripting language) script dating from 11 th and 19th century AD.
The architecture of the temple is magnificient with beautiful sculpture,paintings and carvings.The huge five storied gopuram (temple tower) with its intricate carvings mesmerises us.
A narrow passage leads us through a narrow opening into the sanctum sanctorum which is dark with only lights of the lamp .The diety which is placed on a smaller platform in the form of two stones,one bigger and the other smaller .The bigger one forms the body of the tortoise while the smaller one forms the head.
Many great people and holy sages offered their prayers in this shrine including lava and kusha (sons of Sri Rama,belonging in treta yuga-more than a million years ago),balarama elder brother of sri krishna of dwapara yuga -more than 5000 years ago..
1) Sage Durvasa (more than 5000 years ago)
2) Sri Adi sankaracharya (8th century AD)
3) Sri Ramanujacharya (11th century AD)
4) Sri Narahari teerthulu (13th century AD)
5) Sri Chaitanya mahaa prabhu (1512 AD )etc.

Here lord Kurma faces west side!!!

His holiness Sri Ramanujacharya prayed for lord Vishnu at this place in the 11^th century.The diety ,facing east till then turned towards west to bless the archarya (like in Udupi temple Karnataka).The second dwaja sthamba was installed as the deity is facing west since then.Unique feature of this temple is East and west side of the temple dwajasthambas are installed.And devotees are permitted to enter inner sanctum sanctoraum to have closer darshan, it is very rare in hindu temples.Here the Lord reliefs of  Sani dosha (malifects of saturn).

Protection from Invaders!!!
To protect this temple from the foreign invaders during 14th -15th centuries,like in many temples in south India,the priests applied lime stone mix on the entire temple complex and camouflaged as a hillock,The solidified limestone layers are still being peeled off now and the same are visible even today on the temple walls.

Save our Heritage !!!
As the great sages said "conserve the nature - preserve the culture -to deserve a future.

After darshan

After darshan we came out of main temple and having a glimpse around temple.Temple has nearly 210 pillars ,every pillar is uniquely carved,total inscriptions are 127 in 4 languages.(Devanagari,Oriya,Prakrutha languages.)While pradakshina to temple we can observe ancient pictures on the walls made from natural colours.And there is also a kappa stambham.

Main temple spire called as Padma /gandharva vimanam.This temple region is called swethachalam (white soil mountain region).Human bones dissolve within weekdays in this swethapushkarini as it has chemical properties.

Kaasi Dwaram!!!!!

The under ground tunnel to Varanasi in the north easten corner of the pradakshina mandapam is another magnificient piece of ancient engineers skill.Now the entry is closed.Since many wild animals &snakes are entering into the temple.

The prasadam of lord is said to be possess curative powers.

Kappa Stambham 

Accomdation!!!!

Srikakulam Stay is best

• TTD guest house
• Hotel Nagavalli(13kms)—08942-222916,228806,228807
• Hotel Varam residency (14 kms) 08942-227873/74/75/76
• Hotel Satya (14 kms) –08942 – 227774,224988,227279
• Hotel Sri Rama Lodge -08942—224022/33
• Hotel Vijetha (13kms) – 08942 -227691/92/93/94

Suddenly there was heavy rain for 20 mints and then stoped.we dont want loose time here for rain  so we started moving to Srimukhalingam which is 45 kms away from here.

Quick information!!!!

1)Srikurmam from srikakulam distance is by

• Railway: (amadalavalasa(20kms) is nearest railway station & from srikakulam railway station 25kms.
• From Srikakulam Old bus stop –13kms
• From Srikakulam Bus complex – 15kms
• From Srimukhalingam –45kms
• Vizag –115 kms

2) Vicinity of srikurmam :Pushkarini at temple,Main diety,Kappa stambham,Star turtles, Asta Theeerthas :Narada theertham,madhava theertham,Koutilya theertham,Chakra theertham,Narasimha Theertham,sudha kundam,Mahodadhi,Vakra theertam,

3) Temple  Darshan
 Abhishekam 4:30 to 6 am and ticket costs 100/-
Akkanda Deeparadhana 51/- for one day & 1116/- any one day in a year.
Nitya Bhoghum for lord 300/- for one day & 3116/- once in a year.
Kalyanum 516/- for one day & 5116 for one day in a year.

4) Important festivals 
Kalyanosthavam -Vaisaka sudha ekadasi