Construction of Bhadrachalam Temple As per the word given to Pokala Dammakka, the Rama temple was built at Bhadrachalam by Kancharla Gopanna. He came to be known as Rama Dasu (the Servant of Rama), due to his great devotion to Rama.
Kancharla Gopanna was born in a Niyyogi Brahmin family to Lingana Mantri and Kamamba, who belonged to the Kancharla family and Aatreya Gotra, in Nela Kondapalli village in Khamam district. Their family members were devotees of Vishnu.
In those days (in 17th century), the Golkonda state was ruled by Abul Hasan Shah (also known as Tanishah). He had in his court two brothers known as Akkanna and Madanna. Akkanna was his Prime Minister and Madanna was the Chief of his army. The two brothers were men of letter and were known for their administrative acumen and diplomatic skills. Tanishah ruled Golkonda under their able guidance.
Akkanna-Madanna were the maternal uncles of Kancharla Gopanna. As per their advice, Tanishah appointed Kancharla Gopanna as the Peshkar (Revenue Collector) for the Husnabad Paragana. These facts were mentioned in the Krishna District Manual brought out by an English administrator in the year 1880.
Before he was appointed as a Peshkar, Kancharla Gopanna was a poor man. During that time Sant Kabir visited Gopanna's village. Gopanna invited Kabir Das to his home to be his guest. Pleased with the honour he was given, Sant Kabir taught him the Rama Mantra and asked him to chant the same everyday.
Only after chanting the mantra regularly did Gopanna get appointed as a Peshkar and this strengthened his towards Rama. After he was appointed as a Peshkar, he moved from Nelakondapalli to Palvancha in Khammam. By that time he was married to his wife Kamalamba. But after Pokala Dammakka narrated him her dream and the wish of Rama for the construction of Temple at Bhadrachalam, Gopanna moved to Bhadrachalam.
Daily prayers were held in the name of the Lord at Kancharla Gopanna's house and he used to offer food daily to the devotees of Rama visiting Bhadrachalam. He became popular among the people as Rama Dasu.
A huge ditch was dug up adjacent to the kitchen in his house, to drain the water from the huge vessels in which rice was cooked. One day, the devotees were having their meal at his house and the ditch was full of hot water drained from the rice vessels. Accidentally the little son of Gopanna fell in to the hot liquid in the ditch and was killed. His wife Kamalamba did not immediately reveal this for the fear of disturbing the devotees who were taking food.
When Gopanna came to know about the death of his only son, there was no limit to his sorrow. He prayed to his Lord Rama in that sorrow. After a while, he found to his utter amazement that his son came back from dead as if waking up from sleep and more over his injuries were healed.
He was sure that Rama listened to his cries and restored his son to life. Then he took a vow to start the construction of Rama Temple at Bhadrachalam. Unfortunately, Ramdas (Gopanna) did not have enough money at his disposal for this. He started using the revenue collected by him as Peshkar on behalf of the Golkonda King. He spent six hundred thousand rupees for the construction of the temple at Bhadrachalam.
He cleared the surrounding dense forest and prepared the land for construction. He built the temple in accordance to the Vastu sastra (construction rules). He built Rajagopura, Mukhamantapa, Kalyanamantapa and two Gopura prakaras for Lord Rama. Along with these he ordered Garuda, Hanumantha, Shesha vahanas to be made. The ornaments made by him for the idols of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata and Satrughna are adorning the idols to this day. A few of them are Chintaku Patakam, Patchla Patakam, Billa Molathradu, Kaliki Turai, Neelala Pogulu etc. Ramdas ensured that daily prayers are held at the temple and special prayers and prayer rituals are held periodically on a grand scale.
After a few years Aurangazeb, the Moghul emperor started invading Golkonda state. At that time communal strife began between Hindus and Muslims. Akkanna -Madanna tried to save Tanishah from the Moghul invasion and attempted to shift him to Kondapalli Fort. During the same time some anti Hindu elements in Tanishah's court poisoned his mind against Kancharla Gopanna and informed him that he spent the royal revenue for the construction of a temple at Bhadrachalam.
The king was furious at this and ordered to imprison Rama Dasu at the Golkonda jail. Ram dasu pleaded to the king that the money was spent by him only in the service of God and as such the money spent was not a great amount for the king. But Tanishah did not heed to his pleading and ordered he be given whiplashes for his guilt. This way Kancharla Gopanna was kept in prison for twelve years in the Golkonda Fort. (One can see even today the jail room of Gopanna at the fort). While in the jail, Rama Dasu composed many verses in the praise of Lord Rama, which became very popular by the name of Rama dasu Keertanalu. Even to this day his verses are sung in every Telugu-speaking village.
While Rama Dasu was still in jail, Tanishah got a dream one day, in which two people Ramoji and Lakshmanoji told him that they are the servants of Rama Dasu and that they brought all the six hundred thousand rupees spent from the royal revenue. They also took a receipt from the king to the money they repaid.
When the king woke up next morning, he was astonished to find the moneybags by his side. Then it became clear to Tanishah that the persons who had visited him in his dream were none other than Rama and Laksmana. He realised that Rama Dasu was a sincere devotee of God and that he did a great crime against God by putting Rama Dasu in jail. So he immediately ordered for him to be released.
By that time, Rama Dasu was vexed with his life in jail. He wanted to end his life by consuming poison after praising Lord Rama. By that time Rama and Lakshmana went to the jail in the disguise of sentries. Rama stood guard while Lakshmana went inside and placed the receipt for the money near Rama Dasu, who was in prayer with his eyes closed, and spilled the poison.
When Rama Dasu opened his eyes he found the king standing in front of him and the receipt for six hundred thousand rupees by his side. The king told him that Rama had appeared to him in his dream and repaid the money. Tanishah profusely apologised to Rama Dasu for jailing him. Rama Dasu not only pardoned him but praised him, as he was fortunate enough to see the Lord.
Tanishah promised Rama Dasu that he would send pearls every year to the Bhadrachalam Rama temple for the annual 'Kalyanotsavam' of the Lord, to be used as Talambralu (rice used in marriage which will be showered by the bride and groom on each others head). His word was kept by the Nizams, the successive rulers of the Golkonda state. After independence our State Government kept this custom alive and sends pearls every year to Bhadrachalam temple on the Sree Rama Navami festival day.
Tanishah tried to give the entire money back to Rama Dasu, but Rama Dasu took only two gold coins from him. (They can be seen in the Bhadrachalam temple even today). It was not long after this that Rama Dasu became sick and deceased.
As per the Krishna District manual brought out by the English administrators, Abdul Kutub Shah deceased in 1669 AD. In the same year Tanishah came to power. Gopanna was appointed as Peshkar in 1670 AD and he constructed the temple for four years up to 1674 AD. From 1674 to 1686 AD, Rama Dasu was kept in jail for twelve years. |
