Maha Nandi
Maha
Nandi is the name of the place and the Temple there at is known as
Mahanandiswara Temple. Maha Nandi is located in the east of Nallamala Hills
near Nandyal town in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, positioned at the foot
of the hills of Srisailam.
Theerthas
and Kshetras are divine places which wash out our all sorts of ailments by a
dip and by moving round in the place Kshethra respectively. The third one is
the Murthy or the Deity (in English) by having just a glance all our ailments
ll be destroyed. Concrete examples for all the three is 1. Prayaga 2. Gaya 3.
Tirumala Ahobilam and all the three put together is Kasi and Shrisailam.
Maha
Nandi is bestowed with kshetra Mahima. Even the Murthy is Swayambhu Murthy. Hence the deity is powerful. More over Mahanandi kolanulu (Gundams) get perennial water from sources unknown. Hence it satisfies all the three qualities stated above.The
supervising deity here is Lord Shiva who is worshiped by the name of
Mahanandiswara Swami which is in the form of a sanctified Shivalingam. The
famous water source is also believed to have been evolved from beneath the self
– manifested Shivalingam which is present in the sanctum sanctorum. The
incredible trait of the temple is that the sanctified water gushing out of the
sanctum assists in irrigating 2000 acres of fertile land around the village. According
to Mahanandi Temple history, the 7th-century temple is devoted to Lord Shiva.
Mahanandiswara is one of the ancient temples of India and it dates back over 1,500 years and the
inscriptions of the 10th-century
tablets portray the fact that this temple has been restored and rebuilt quite a
lot of times. The initial structure of the temple was erected by the Chalukyas
in the 7th century and, later
on, numerous additions were made to the temple in the 10th and 15th centuries.
A
copper plate by Krishna Devaraya confirms that Mahanandi belongs to one of the
most blessed places. Narasimha Devaraya, the king of the same Vijayanagara
offered most precious gifts.
The
kings of the area who were addressed as Nandas and they constructed a mammoth
of temples and adored their ancestral deity, Nandishwara.
According
to the legend of the temple, in the beginning of Kritayuga, once there lived a
Rishi in the Nallamala forest named Silada.
He built a small cottage and lived in it with his wife. He was always interested in Tapas. He was eating Silas (stones) as his usual
food. So, he was named ‘Silada’. He had no children. So, his wife requested him for children. He wanted to fulfil her request and so
meditated on Sarveswara for a long time.
After
a few years, Lord Shiva appeared before him and asked him what boon he
wanted. Silada forgetting his wife’s
desire. Requested Parama Siva to allow
him to serve him forever. But the
Omniscient Lord knew that he had forgotten his wife’s desire. Lord Siva told
him that he would fulfil the desires of both wife and husband. He blessed the
Rishi and disappeared.
Immediately
a male child appeared in the hole or cave.
Both of them felt extremely happy. They named him ‘Mahananda’. Day by day the child was growing up and
received a good education spiritual education from Gurus. After upanayana, Mahananda asked his parents
to allow him to do Tapas about Siva.
They felt very happy and blessed him.
In
a short time Parameswara appeared before him. The boy did Pranams to Siva in
joy and praised him in many hymns.
Parameswara was pleased and ready to give him boon. The boy requested Lord to allow him to be his
Vahana (Vehicle). Parameswara agreed to
it and fulfilled his desire.
Lord
Siva told him. “My dear son! This place will soon be changed into a powerful
and holy river which flows forever. This
holy place will become a sacred and famous Kshethra on your name (Mahanandi
Kshethra). It is true.” Saying those words Parameswara transformed
him as his Vahana (bull) and went to Kailasagiri.
After
Many years, a Nanda King the son of Uttungabhoja of Pandava Race ruled this
place residing at Nandyal town. There
was a village named Gopavaram (then named Gopitavaram, Gopana means Secret). A Shepherd had a herd of cows. The cows used to graze in the forest every
day.
One
of the cows in the cattle used to enter a bush and ooze (discharge slowly) the
milk from her udder on the grass and return home with its empty udder every
day. The shepherd wanted to know the
reason and followed the cow carefully on the next day. The cow entered the bush as usual. The shepherds were observing its movements
hiding behind the bush. The cow stood on
the grass which covered the hole (ant hill).
A child came out of the hole and drank the milk of the cow. The cow returned and came home with cattle.
The
shepherds were talking about the event here and there. The spies heard the matter and told the same
to the king. The king felt very happy
and decided to see this in person. The
next day he went to the forest and followed the cattle of the cows observing
the movements with special attention. The cow entered the bush, stood on the hole
and oozed (discharged-slowly) the milk from her udder. The king wanted to see the same clearly and
walked towards the cow slowly. The cow
was frightened and ran away. Its hoof
was sunk in the hole while running in a hurry.
The child was vanished. The king
went home with a great surprise.
In
the night he felt a dream, Parameswara appeared before him and told him in the
dream, “I myself drank the milk from the hole.
Construct a temple there, I would stay in the places called Navanandis
(Navanandulu) within a circle of 80 Kms. Ganga Devi also would serve me with her
brightness. Your glory will be eternal.”
On
the next day the king went to the ant hill.
It was turned into Rock Linga. He
was very surprised and saw the Siva Linga deeply. It was clear that the hoof of the cow was
sunk in the hole. The same can be seen
even now.
The
king constructed a temple there and dug a pond in its opposite direction. Within a short time, it became the endless
flow with clear water. He named it Rudra
Gunda (Kunda).
He
also dug two ponds in both northern and eastern sides and named the ponds
Brahma Gunda and Vishnu Gunda.
This
is one of the most momentous features of the Mahananadi temple, the pure holy
water of Pushkarani which flows throughout the year. The water is so gemstone
clear that even a particle dropped in the water looks visible, which is key
factor of magnetism for all the visitors. Vishwakarma Sthapathis designed the
tanks such a way that water level remains at 5 ft.
The
water is considered to come from five springs which are named ‘Srisailadhara,’
‘Narasimhadhara,’ ‘Daivodhinidhara,’ ‘Nanditirtha’ and ‘Kailasatirtha’
respectively.
This
water possesses healing properties. The water during the winter season will be
very hot and vice versa during the summer. Water at Temple tanks will be warm
at early hours of the days and water gets cooler as the day progress. Irrespective
of the seasons, water here flows at a constant pace. Temple inscriptions state
that this flow never stopped right from 6th Century.
Next
to the central sanctum is a shrine devoted to the Goddess Kameshwari Devi, the
companion of Mahanadeeshwara. The Srichkara in front of the deity is said to
have been established by Adi Sankaracharya.
One
of the world’s biggest man-made Nandi of 15 ft. x 27 ft is present near the Mahanandi temple.
Nine
Nandi temples present in this Nallmala Hill Region are as follows. Mahanandi,
Prathama Nandi, Naga Nandi, Soma Nandi, Surya Nandi, Krishna Nandi or Vishnu
Nandi, Vinayaka Nandi, Shiva Nandi, Garuda Nandi. All these Nine Nandi’s are
famous, but Mahanandi receives the highest fame among all of them.
The
unique thing about this temple is, one can touch the water near the Shiva
Linga. The devotees can offer prayers and touch the Shiva Linga. This is
unusual, because traditionally at temples, the main deity is kept away from the
touch of the devotees.
Recently
added two big mandapas in front of the temple provides nice shade to the
devotees.
Within
the same complex of the temple, one can see an arched marble shrine of ‘Lord
Kodanda Rama,’ the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu that was supplemented
with the compound in 1953. Images
of Sri Rama, Sita and Lakshmana are strikingly carved and the devotees find it
complicated to progress away from them. There is a separate shrine for
Hanuman in same complex. A giant granite Nandi has been installed in front of
the temple which is costed 35 lacks and weighs 50 tons approximately. There
are even 5 separate Shivalingas
which are installed by Pandavas themselves while they were in exile period.
Maha
Shivrathri is one of the most popular events where numerous devotees gather to
pay homage and worship Lord Shiva. The festival is celebrated for seven long
days initiating from ‘Magha Bahula Chaturdasi’ which is the 14th day after full
moon in February- March.
Grand
Ratha yatra celebrated in this temple attracts large number of devotees from
several states.
Mahanandi
is about 21 km from Nandyal. The nearest airport is at Hyderabad, which is
about 215 km from Kurnool, and the nearest railway station is at Nandyal. There
are 2 routes to reach Mahanandi from Nandyal town. One route via Thimmapuram
and is the shortest, around 17 km from bus stand. Kurnool is connected by road
and rails from all directions.
Swasti.
