Vajra (Diamond) Narasimha, 7700 Acres+9 Mountains owner yet no Income, no road Access

Last week, I went to visit Vajra Narasimha Swamy temple. This was a remote temple in Bellamkonda mandal, Guntur district with no road access for four wheelers. Two wheelers could come via a single road from Emmaji Gudem. To visit this place, I journeyed 120 kms to reach its mirror point in telangana across the mighty Krishna river at pulichintala point in reballe village. I had to journey 25 kms in single roads, some of which were damaged. I didn't know what pulled me to this temple but this is a miraculous place. why will someone instead of happily spend the weekend with family journey all the way to visit this interior place. When it comes to powerful gods, the call comes. U are no longer the seeker. U become an instrument in his hands. 

Perhaps this is what happened to me when I started for this temple. My mother accompanied me since she didn't want to send me to this ex-naxalite area all alone. Yes, these areas were naxalite infested once upon a time and hence most of these temples have not received the recognition they deserve. Bellamkonda was a hotbed for naxalism. Many honest officers have been killed or kidnapped here. Hence the scare was certainly there walking into that area again. 

After reaching the priest’s home in Reballe, the priest commissioned a boat for us to ferry through the Krishna River. This was the Pulichintala reservoir with a depth of 200 ft. We were going to the submerged town of Kethavaram. There were 103 temples which got submerged when the dam water was released downstream, says the priest. We could see the old temple spire in the water. It was an eerie feeling, the ruins of a submerged town. The boat winded through this desolate place. There were only 4 of us along with the boat driver. The priest’s son had come along with us. After reaching the other bank, we had to go in an auto for four kms to reach the top temple on the mountain. All in all, it took us around 40 mts to reach the temple from the priest’s town. 

The temple trust owned 7700 acres and nine mountains yet there was no income, no salaries coming to the priest. On top of that, there was no road access. Many of the towns which connected to it were submerged in water cutting off its access. The old temple of Vajra Narasimha Swamy is in dilapidated condition. Some NRI is renovating the place by putting up three crores by himself. The goddess Rajyalakshmi ammavaru devasthanam has been rebuilt. The main Narasimha swamy temple which is down hill, a fleet of steep 100+ steps to reach the place along the mountain. The same can be reached by climbing 200 steps from the bottom of the hill. The main temple is said to be 1800 yrs old constructed around swayambhu Narasimha swamy etched on diamond rock. Kethavaram temple was built by a king called Ketharaju on whose name the village has been named. Not much is known about the history of these temples since the temples on which inscriptions are there are totally submerged. 

The priest told us the history of the temple. The hillock on which the temple had a fort around it. We couldn’t find the remains of the fort. Maybe it is still ahead on the hill. Kethavaram is in the diamond belt and during the rainy season, many come to search for diamonds. Even today, there were a few who had come searching for diamonds. The priest told us that this place too was visited by Naxalites earlier. They never harmed the locals. The temple owns 7700 acres which are all being tilled by locals but no one is giving any income back to the temple. Temple management has requested the government many times but nothing has come to fruition. It seems in the previous government, even roads had been sanctioned. After government change, nothing came to fruition and the road access has been pending ever since forcing devotees to come from the telangana side. 

The rock idols of Narasimha Swamy and Rajyalakshmi Ammavaru are rich in features and very clear unlike in many other swayambhu narasimha temples where the features are not visible at all. In mangalagiri, we have just the mouth of the lord in Panakala Narasimha swamy temple. In most of the prominent narasimha temples which are on top of hills, the idols are not clear. The priest explained to us the story of the gods. There was another couple who had come from Narasaraopet to fulfill a vow of the previous year. They had come by bike. Their forefathers were from Kethavaram and hence this was their patron god now that all other temples were submerged in water. ASI had done markings of some of the submerged temples but no research seems to have been done seriously on the temples. This deserves a relook. The couple who had come cooked pongal there using some dry sticks and offered it to the lord and later to us as prasad. Hungry after a tiring journey, I happily took the food especially because it was already 2 pm. It was lunch time. We set sail via the river boat back to the priest’s home. The priest’s family served us lunch. We said no but they were so full of love that they did not agree since it was already 3 pm and there was no way we could get any good food nearby. 

My trip was organised by Vihara Travels. They can be reached at 7815817816. They are also organising the Pancha Narasimha Kshetra Yatra. They can be reached also at 0866-2972563. They specialise in spiritual tours and have been taking care of our travels for several years now.