Puttaparti.

Sai

"Prashanti Nilayam Ashram in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, is a massive complex that can house thousands of people...people who wait for a glimpse of the Baba, or even the chance of being picked out for an interview. Sathya Sai Baba states that the miracles are necessary for people to realise his true message – love and devotion to God.

The most famous of India’s living gurus, Sri Sathya Sai Baba hails from the once small town of Puttaparthi, and is best known for his supposed command over the laws of nature.

Such powers are usually attributed to Indian saints, but Baba’s consistency and frequency of mind reading, healing incurable diseases, and materialising objects out of thin air is remarkable, and has been witnessed by millions of people over 50 years.

People have arrived at the ashram in wheelchairs and left on their feet, they’ve come blind and left with sight! Even "clinically dead" humans have been brought back to life in front of a large gathering (the Walter Cowman episode ).

More serious devotees explain that the miracles are merely Baba’s way of garnering attention and spreading the message of love and devotion to God, and not an end in itself. Sai Baba Himself explains His miracles as "visiting cards" to attract people to the pathway of God-realization and Truth and igniting their sleeping minds towards the spark of divinity and soul-wisdom ( Atma Gyan ).

Puttaparthi University.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba has also publicly and emphatically declared that his present body frame is only a re-incarnation of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba. Subsequent to His mortal frame passing away in 2022 A.D ., the Spirit Energy will again re-incarnate itself after eight years in 2030 A.D . as Sri PREMA SAI Baba - the last of the Triple Sai Incarnations spanning across three centuries!!

Puttaparthi Hospital.

Scientific investigations through " Kirlian photography " recordings have conclusively demonstrated a highly brilliant auric field (of white and blue light) extending to a few miles, emnating from the body of Sai Baba.

Prasanthi Nilayam.

Puttaparthi is located in Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh, about 180 km from Bangalore (Karnataka). The Prasanthi Nilayam Ashram is open to all, though foreigners may only enter when the Baba is there.

Domes and turrets have converted the sleepy town of Puttaparthi into a beehive of activity, and the ashram has the capacity to accommodate thousands of travellers all at once. Here, worship follows a devotional path, in the form of bhakti yoga, or the chanting and singing the praises of God.

Interspersed with this are the darshan s for which devotees queue up twice a day, so that they may see or come in contact with the Baba and experience his spontaneous and ever-flowing Divine Love"

Mangalagiri.

Mangalagiri means The Auspicious Hill. This place is one of the 8 important Mahakshetrams (sacred places) in India. The eight places where Lord Vishnu manifested himself are (1) Sri Rangam (2) Srimushnam (3) Naimisam (4) Pushkaram (5) Salagamadri (6) Thothadri (7) Narayanasramam (8) Venkatadri.

Thotadri is the present Mangalagiri. Lakshmi Devi has done tapas on this hill. That's why it got this name (The auspicious hill). There are three Narasimha Swamy temples in Mangalagiri. One is Panakala Narasimha Swamy on the hill. Another one is Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy at the foot of the temple. Third one is Gandala Narasimha Swamy at the top of the hill.

This shape of the hill looks like an elephant. From all the directions, the hill appears in the elephant shape only. There is an interesting legend to show as to how the mountain came into existence. Pariyatra, an ancient king had a son Hrasva Srungi visited all holy and sacred places to regain normal bodily stature and finally visited this holy place of Mangalagiri and stayed for three years performing penance. All the Devathas (Gods) advised him to stay at Mangalagiri and continue to do penance in praise of Lord Vishnu.

The father of Hrasva Srungi came with his retinue to take back his son to his kingdom. But Hrasva Srungi took the shape of an elephant to become the abode of Lord Vishnu who is locally known as Panakala Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy.The steps to the temple were constructed by Sri Channapragada Balaramadasu in 1890. There was a cave next the devi temple on the hill. It is said that, there is a way to Vundavalli from that cave, and the sages used to go by that way to take bath in Krishna River. Now, the cave is very dark, and the way could not be seen.

It is said that here, god is self-existent. In the temple, there will be no statue of the god, but there is only mouth, widely opened to 15 cms. The mouth is covered by metal face of the god. The temple will be opened till afternoon only, with the belief that devatas will perform pujas in the night. The God takes jaggery water as offering by a conch. The Jaggery water is actually poured into the mouth of the Lord, a gargling sound is clearly audible as if the Lord is actually drinking it and the sound becomes shriller and shriller as and when the Lord is drinking.

The sound will come to a stop after sometime and the balance of the jaggery water is thrown out. This phenomenon happens not once in a day but is a recurring feature during the course of the day as and when devotees offer panakam (jaggery water). It will be interesting to note that even a single ant is not traceable near the Lord nor around the temple in spite of the offering of so much jaggery water. As the offering of the panakam to the Lord is peculiar, the Lord here is called panakala Narasimhaswamy. There is a legend about the offering of the panakam (jaggery water) to the Lord. It is said that the hill was once a volcano. Sugar or jaggery water, it is said, neutralizes sulphur compounds found in a volcano and prevents a volcanic eruption.

The temple of Sri Panakala Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy is situated on the hill. On the right side of the steps provided to reach the temple, there is a stone inscription by Sri Krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagar and a little further up, the foot prints of Mahaprabhu Chaitanya are to be seen. Midway on the steps there is a temple of Lord Panakala Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy there is only the face with the mouth widely opened. A dhwajasthambham was erected in front of the temple in 1955.

Behind the temple there is the temple of Sri Lakshmi, to the west of which there is a tunnel which is believed to lead to Vundavalli caves on the banks of the Krishna. The stone inscription of the kings of Vijayanagar relate besides to the conquest of Rayalu over Kondapalli etc., that Siddhiraju Thimmarajayya Devara granted a total of 200 kunchams (10 kunchams make one acre) land in 28 villages of which Mangalagiri was one and gift of 40 kunchams by China Thirumalayya to Ramanujakutam.

Panakala Narasimha Swamy - God Who Drinks Panakam:

Behind the temple there is the temple of Sri Lakshmi, to the west of which there is a natural cave. It is believed that it will lead to Undavalli caves on the banks of the Krishna river and the sages used to go to take bath in Krishna River. Now, the cave is very dark and the way could not be seen. We can reach the temple through steps-way on foot and also by road-way. The steps to the temple were constructed by Sri Channapragada Balarama Dasu in 1890. In 2004, ghat road had been constructed through which the pilgrims can reach the temple easily.

Thoorpu Gali Gopuram (Tower on East Side) is the main attraction for the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple. Vijayanagara kings constructed three storeys and Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Naidu constructed another 8 storeys. Raja Vasireddy constructed this from 1807 to 1809. Height of this temple is 153 feet and width is 49 feet. It is very rare to find out towers which have less width, and more height like this tower. Utthara Gali Gopuram (Tower on North Side) is opened on the Vaikunta Ekadasi (Mukkoti) day.

It was constructed by Rangapuram Jamindar Madapati Venkateswararao in 1911. When Padamati Gali Gopuram (Tower on West Side) was being constructed, accidentally some stones fell down and some workers died. By this incident, the work was stopped and had not been started till now. Dhakshina Gali Gopuram (Tower on South Side) was renovated in 1992 for Krishna pushkaras by the initiative of the Executive officer Sri Nootakki Kotaiah.

Mantralayam.

Mantralayam’ which is popular worldwide is situated here. Saint Sri Raghavendra whose ‘Brindavan’ is at Mantralayam has devotees in every corner of the world. Tungabadra, the tributary of river Krishna flows by the place. The Brindavan of Sri Raghavendra has been established also in several other parts of India. Anobilam is where a cluster of three ancient temples can be seen.

One of them is dedicated to ‘Lord Narasimha’ an incarnation of ‘Lord Vishnu’ who assumes the unique form of Narasimha with a lion’s head and a human body. Here all the nine forms of Lord Narasimha are worshipped. The place is also marked by picturesque hills and scenic surroundings.

The Nallamalai forests with a captivating landscape punctuated by hills and replete with typical sylvan flora and fauna also covers historic and pilgrim spots like Srisailam, Mahanandi, etc.

Srisailam apart from being the centre of one of the 12 ‘Jothirlingas’ of Lord Siva is also the place of a fascinating wildlife sanctuary. The unique ‘Nava Brahma Temple’ is situated at Alamapuram, the place which abounds in legends – Kurnool has everything to appeal to every visitor of every taste and liking.

ManthralayamThis sacred place is situated on the sumptuous banks of the splendid river Tungabadra which is a tributary of the magnificent river Krishna. This tranquil place is where Saint Raghavendra, a prominent saint in the holy hierarchical order of ‘Sri Madhvacharya’, shed His mortal coils.

The ‘Brindavan’ here entombs the mortal remains of the saint. The air is filled with divine serenity here. It is believed that the saint exists in His Holy subtle form after he had relinquished the material world and that He will continue to dwell in this form till the point of time which marks the completion of 700 years from the time he attained ‘Jeeva Samathi’.

Saint Sri Raghavendra took the ‘Dwaita’ philosophy promulgated by Sri Madhavacharya to places beyond horizons. ‘Dwaita’ the philosophy upheld by the Madhva School of thought is one of the Madhva School of thought is one of the three great philosophies, the other two being ‘Advaita’ and ‘Visishtadvaita’ promulgated by the Saivaite Saint Sri Adisankara and the Vaishnavite Saint Sri Ramanuja respectively.

Saint Sri Raghavendra is believed to be the reincarnation of ‘Prahlada’, the divine prodigy who as an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu even in His childhood displayed extraordinary wisdom impeccable stagacity and untarnished courage against all odds imposed by his demon father Hiranya whom the all merciful Lord Killed assuming the Lion- head and human-body form to rid Prahlada of the turmoils He was faced with.

Sri Raghavendra has a lot of devotees belonging to various castes and creeds far and wide as a result of which a number of ‘Brindavans’ have been established all over the country. These centres of worship follow the tradition unique to Madhva culture.

‘Annadhana’ or free meals is provided to the devotees every day at Manthralayam and also at certain other ‘Brindavans’.Manthralayam has road links with all major cities. The nearest railway station ‘Manthralayam Road’ is 15 km away.

Basara.

Basara Temple is situated 150 Kms from Adilabad, Adilabad District, Sri Gyana Saraswathi temple at Basara on the banks of river Godavari is the only temple in South India dedicated to the Goddess of learning.

The legend has it that after the Mahabharata war, sage Vyas embarked on a pilgrimage in search of peace.

He reached the serene kumaranchala hills on the banks of river Godavari and meditated and propitiated the Goddess who eventually appeared before him and granted her presence in the form of the divine trinity.

The Goddess ordered the sage to place three handful of sand at three places everyday. Miraculously these sand dunes transformed into the idols of the divine trinity i.e., Saraswathi, Lakshmi, & Kali.

These are the presiding deities of Basara today. Despite the presence of the trinity,the temple is dedicated to Goddess Saraswathi.

Children are brought here for the ceremony of Akshara puja to start their education with the blessings of the Goddess of Knowledge.The Vedavathi Sila, the Ashtateerth are other places of interest around Basar.

Thousands of devotees bath in the Godavari & seek the blessings of the Goddess during the Mahasivarathri festival.

Srikalahasti.

The temple at Sri Kalahasti is one of the most revered Saivite shrines in South India. Located in the Chittor District of southern Andhra Pradesh, near the famous temple-town Tirupati.

Sri Kalahasteeswara Temple is considered to be a Navagrahastalam where Rahu and Ketu - of the nine grahams or celestial bodies in Indian astrology - worshipped Shiva.

This temple is also one of the Pancha Bhoota Stalams, a group of temples in South India that celebrate Shiva as the embodiment of the five primary elements. Sri Kalahasteeswara represents wind/air or Vayu Kshetram.

The other temples in the Pancha Bhoota group are Tiruvanaikka (water), Tiruvannamalai (fire), Kanchipuram (earth) and Chidambaram (space) - all located in Tamil Nadu.

The Sri Kalasteeswara Temple has long been a source of admiration and patronage. The temple is referred to in early Tamil literature, and has Chola inscriptions which date back to the 10th century CE.

The Chola, and Vijayanagar rulers are noted as the main patrons to the temple, responsible for later additions to the structure. Of particular note is the impressive gopuram built by the famous Vijayanagar ruler, Krishnadevaraya.

The Tamil Saivite saints of the 1st century CE visited the temple and wrote songs in its honor.Deekshitar, one of the foremost composers in the Karnatic Music Tradition has also sung the glory of the temple in his kriti Sree Kaalahasteesa.

The temple faces west and is built adjoining a hill on the banks of the river Swarnamukhi.At some points, the hill serves as the wall of the temple. The temple structure is situated in the middle of three important hills of Sri Kalahasti.

the Durgambika hill to the north, the Kannappar hill to the south, and the Kumaraswamy hill to the east.The name Sri Kalahasti is associated with an important Hindu legend-a story that is often depicted in kalamkari wall hangings.

Shiva is said to have given salvation to a spider, elephant and a serpent who were ardent devotees of the Shiva Lingam located here.The spider is said to have attained salvation in Kritayuga (the first of the four yugas in the Hindu tradition), while the elephant and the snake were devotees in Treta Yugam, the succeeding aeon.

The elephant's devotional outpouring was a source of disturbance to the serpent's display of devotion and vice versa, resulting in animosity between the two, until Shiva's intervention gave both the devotees their liberation. Another legend associated with the temple recalls the story of a hunter who was a great devotee of Kalahasteeswarar.

The hunter is said to have offered his own eyes to the Shivalingam, and for this reason earned the name Kannappan (his original name being Thinnan), and the distinction of having his statue adorn the sanctum. Nakkiradevar, Indra, Rama, Muchukunda and others are believed to have worshipped Shiva at this temple.