Amaravathi

The Amareswara (Shiva) temple walls have lot of inscriptions that give information about the kings who ruled over the area. Here Lord Shiva is in Linga rupa


The present holy shrine of Amaralingeswara (Lord Shiva) temple is associated with the reign of Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu who ruled the region before the advent of the British rule (See Amararama).

People around Amaravati widely believe that he temple was constructed to install peace after a massacre of 1000 violent tribesman plotting against the king in a sinister carnival organized to capture them.

Later Venkatadri Nayudu built a temple in the same spot upon guidance from scholars of his court. He was well-known for his benevolence , munificience and construction of a large number of temples and education centers in the Krishna river delta.

Macherla

The name Macherla originated from Mahadeva Cherla. This town is in the heart of Palnadu, and has a history of over a thousand years. The famous battle Palnati Yudhdham (War of Palnadu) took place between Macherla and Gurajala between 1176 AD - 1182 AD.

The town is renowned for the Chennakesava Swamy temple built here during the reign of the Haihaya Kings. The annual festival, celebrated on a grand scale, attracts pilgrims and tourists from far and wide.

The main temple is the Sri Laxmi Chennakesava Swamy Temple. It was built around the 13th century A.D. The main gate has one tall Dwajastambam Swamy statue which is covered with wood and bronze. Close by are four stone figures. They are Sri Madbhagavathamu, Srimannarayana Avataram, Sriman Mahabharatam, and Srimad Ramayanam.

Mangalagiri

Galigopuram
























The hill temple of Mangalagiri enshrines Pankala Narasimha and is located at an easily accessible distance from Vijayawada. The three well known Narasimha shrines in Andhra Pradesh are Ahobilam, Simhachalam and Mangalagiri.

Mangalagiri has two temples, one at the foothills dedicated to Lakshmi Narasimha and the other on the Mangalagiri hill dedicated to Pankala Narasimha.

Pankala (Paanakam in tamil) - a solution of jaggery (unrefined sugar) in water, is the offering made to the presiding deity Narasimha. This offering is actually poured into the mouth of the rock cut image of the deity. It is believed that exactly half the amount of the liquid poured, is regurgitated by the image. Also interestingly, despite the liberal use of sugar (unrefined), there are no ants in the temple premises. It should be noted that the only shrine in this temple is that of Narasimha.

The temple tank is known as the Lakshmi Pushkarini. Legend has it that this pushkarini was created by the Gods, combining the waters from several holy rivers of the land, and that Mahalakshmi (who came out of the milky ocean when it was churned by the gods and the asuras), bathed in this pushkarini and married Vishnu thereafter.

The temple at the foothills of Mangalagiri - dedicated to Lakshmi Narasimha, has an imposing 11 storeyed raja gopuram built by a local chieftain. Inscriptions indicate that the Vijayanagar monarch Krishna Deva Raya visited this temple. This temple celebrates it's annual festival in March.

How to Reach

From	KMS
Vijayawada	12
Guntur	21
Tenali	22

APRSRTC Buses are available every 10 minutes from Guntur, Vijayawada.
Fare from Guntur is Rs 10, from Vijayawada is Rs 6

From Vijayawda there is City Buses also available Bus No's are 47v, 20