SRIKAKULAM DISTRICT TOURISM

SPIRITUAL  TOURISM  IN  SRIKAKULAM  DISTRICT

Srikakulam District is known for its rich spread of Ancient Shrines, Renovated Mandirs of Reputed Trusts and well attended Mosques etc. There are also many Ashrams of Swamijis , including the first Tapovanam in the State near Palaasa Town, built on the lines of Ancient Rishi Culture. Hinduism , Buddhism , Jainism, Islam and Christian Religions thrived in this land of Tolerance over many centuries.

Apart from the very well managed Mandirs of Jeeyar Trust etc, there are about 821 Institutions in the District , managed by the AP State Endowments Dept. These Institutions are graded into A,B,C,D and E Categories depending upon the Annual Income levels. Out of these, 3 Temples are graded in 6A Category (Arasavalli, Srikurmam, Palakonda Temples) , 16 in 6B Category, 784 Institutions in 6C Category and the remaining 18 Institutions in 6D Category.

Most Prominent Hindu Temples are :

1. Sri Kurmam Shrine : A Divya Kshetram and the Only Temple in the World for Kurma (Tortoise) avatar of Lord Vishnu , with stone inscriptions dating back to 2nd Century AD. Legendary references however, date back to Kruta (Satya) Yuga - over 20 lakh years ago (Details Below)

2. Sri Mukhalingam Temple : Lord Shiva Temple on the banks of Vamsadhara River - A grand Architectural Masterpiece - is known to have been built around 10th Century AD, when this place was the Capital of Eastern Ganga Kings (Details Below)

3. Arasavalli Sun Temple : Known to have been originally built around 7th Century, but renovated extensively in the last 20 years. One of the biggest Sun Temples in the Country (Details Below)

4. Sri Venkateswara Temple at Narayana Tirumala in Srikakulam Town (Details Below)

5. Sri Uma Rudra Koteswara Swamy Temple in Srikakulam : Built over 5000 Years Ago                                     Details-English             Details-Telugu
6.   Sri Seetharama Swamy Temple at Gulla Seetharampuram Details
7.   Sri Sangameswara Temple at Sangaam (Confluence of 3 rivers) Details Photos
8.   Sri Mani Nageswara Temple at Kallepalli near Bay of Bengal Details
9.   Sri Endala Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple in Ravivalasa village near Tekkali  Details

10. Sri Vaasudeva Perumal Temple at Mandasa (Chinna Jeeyar's Admn) Details

11. Sri Radha Govinda Mandir at Melliaputti     Details    Photos
12. Sri Radha Govinda Mandir at Ranasthalam Details  Photos

Most Prominent Mosques are : 
1. Jamia Mosque in Srikakulam Town
2. Madina Darga near Kalinga Patnam
3. Peerla Konda near Itchapuram

Ashrams Of A Few Swamijis :

1. Tapovanam near Palaasa Town - Swamy Parameswarananda Giri
    (Blog : tapovanamsklm.blogspot.in) Ph : 09502647531
2. Naimisaranyam near Kaijolu, Itchapuram - Swamy Bala Brahmananda Saraswati ., Ph : 09440116307
3. Pandavula Metta near Tekkali - Swamy Niranjan Baba, Ph : 09441259410
4. Santiashramam at Nemalikonda
5. Sri BalaYogi Ashram near Nandivada in Pondur Mandal
6. Sri Rama Yogi Ashram near Layidam in Pondur Mandal

DETAILS OF IMPORTANT HINDU TEMPLES : 

1. SRIKURMAM MAHAA VISHNU SHRINE :   Brief Note
                                                                                           Brief Story In Telugu
                                                                      Prominent Features Of Srikurmam Shrine - English
                                                                      Srikurma Kshetra Visheshalu - Telugu
                                                                      Detailed Temple History / Legend  English / Telugu
                                                                      Photos
                                                                                            

Darshan Timings : Abhishekam (Thiru Manjanam)  4.30am - 6am
Free / Special Darshan :  6am to 7.45pm on all Days (With Short closures for few minutes for Naivedyam etc) 

Other Temples & Tirthas of  SRIKURMAM SHRINE : 

Srikurmam Shrine, as per Puranas, is encircled by Pancha Linga Kshetras (5 Shiva Temples) and Ashta (8) Tirthas spread over a distance of about 30 KiloMetres. This Triangular area between theTwo rivers & Sea - Naagaavali , Vamsadhaara and the Bay of Bengal is praised to be the Kali Yuga's Vaikuntham. It is said that Bala Rama (Elder brother of Sri Krishna), when he visited the Shrine during his Southern Pilgrimage, ordained that Srikurmam be the only Kurma Kshetra in the World and that no imitations be built for Kurmanadha anywhere else. He dug the earth and made a river to flow. This river is called "Naagaavali" and flows around the Western periphery of Srikurmam Shrine alongwith the River "Vamsadhaara" flowing on the Northern Periphery.

The Shiva Temple on the western periphery of Srikurmam Shrine is - Sri Uma Rudra Koteswara Temple on the banks of  Nagavali river in Srikakulam Town (about 12 km from the main Srikurmam Temple). The Temple on the eastern border of Srikurmam Shrine is located at kalinga patnam (about 15 km from the main Srikurmam Temple).Similarly, the Northern & Southern border Temples of Shiva are located at Singupuram and Ippili Villages.The fifth Shiva Temple is located adjacent to the main Temple complex of Sri Kurmanadha.

The Ashta Tirthas (8) are - Narada Tirtham, Sudha Kundam, Chakra Tirtham, Madhava Tirtham, Kautilya Tirtham, Vakra Tirtham, Narasimha Tirtham & Mahodadhi located around the 20 mile Srikurma Kshetram. All these are worth a visit.

2. SRIMUKHA LINGAM SHIVA TEMPLE :  Brief Note
                                                    Prominent Features Of Sri Mukhalingam Temple - English
                                                    Sri Mukhalingam Kshetra Visheshalu - Telugu
                                                    Detailed Temple History/ Legend - English / Telugu
                                                    Photos

Darshan Timings : Suprabhata Seva (Abhishekam)  5am to 6am
Free/ Special Darshan : 6.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 7.30pm on all Days

3. SUN GOD TEMPLE at ARASAVALLI : Brief Note
                                                                   Detailed Temple History/ Legend  - English / Telugu
                                                                   Prominent Features Of Sun God Temple - English
                                                                  Sri Suryanarayana Swamy Kshetra Visheshalu - Telugu
                                                                  Photos
                                                
Darshan Timings : Abhishekam 5am - 6am
Free / Special Darshan : 6am to 1pm and 3pm to 8pm on all week Days (Except Sunday) and from 6am to 8pm on all Sundays. Please view www.arasavallisungod.org for details on the Temple etc.

4. SRI VENKATESWARA TEMPLE at Narayana Tirumala : Brief Note
                                               Prominent Features Of the Temple - English (Link)
                                               Sri Narayana Tirumala Kshetra Visheshalu - Telugu (Link)
                                               Detailed Temple History/ Legend - English / Telugu ( Link )
                                               Photos

This Temple is in the District Head Quarters Town of Srikakulam and is gradually built since 1961. Though recently built, the maintenance of the Temple is said to be very good and it is already on the path to become a prominent Temple in Northern AP. It is about 15 Km from the main Temple complex of Srikurmam., and is very close to the National Highway (NH5) leading to Visakhapatnam.