Pushpagiri is a temple town in Vallur Mandal of Kadapa District. The town lies on the banks of river Pennar and is famous for its ancient temples. The place was said to be mentioned in the Valmiki’s Sundarakanda chapter of Ramayana. The kings and rich people erected many temples here as there was an ancient belief that building a temple in this place would bring them prosperity. And hence nearly hundred and one temples adorned Pushpagiri in ancient times.
The origin of its name as “Pushpagiri” has a legend behind it. A tale goes that a man, who was desirous of mingling his father’s bones in the holy Ganges, passed this village. On his way, he stopped here to take a dip in the river Pennar, that flows by its side. By the time he was back, he found that the bones were converted into jasmine. He felt some divinity in that place and felt that his father’s soul had found a place in paradise. He then immersed the jasmine flowers in the river Pennar. Over a period of time, this place slowly assumed the form of a hill and became famous as Pushpagiri (‘Pushpa’- Flower and ‘Giri’- Hill).
Pushpagiri has a charm of a small rural place with people around selling bangles, toys and balloons. Some small hotels selling tea and snacks are found on the road. Just opposite to the main temple, there is a Pushpagiri Matham (home of religious order), also called as Pushpagiri Peetam, which is said to have been established by Aadhi Sankaracharya, a renowned Hindu Saint, to promote his philosophy of Advaita. This peetam is said to be the richest and only Advaita mutt in Andhra Pradesh.
The Trikuteswara (three temples) shrine is situated just opposite to this Matham. There are three shrines- Kamaleshwara Shrine, Hachaleswara shrine and Pallaveswara Shrine, founded in 1255 AD and hence the name Trikuteswara. This triple shrine has a common mukha-mandapa (the main pillared hall or covered veranda in a temple), with each temple on the south, west and north of the mukha mandapam. A four pillared Nandi Mandapa houses an image of Nandi in the sabha-mandapa (Public Hall).
Bhimeshwara (Lord Shiva) Temple is located to the east of Trikuteswara Temple with figures of elephants, lions and sages in its Mukha-mandapam. The ceiling of the temple is decorated with a pastille-shaped design with a lotus medallion in the centre. The entrance of this shrine has steps with parapet walls lined by elephant heads with long trunks. The Vaidyanatha Swami Temple is a west facing shrine of the Chola period, situated to the southeast of Trikuteswara temple. Two dvarapalakas (watchmen) guard its doorways and the mandapam has 16 pillars arranged in two squares. The sanctum sanctorum has a standing image of goddess, called as Kamalakshi Devi by the locals.
Pushpagiri is also known as the second Hampi. The main attraction of Pushpagiri is the Chenna Kesava Temple, a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, which is situated on the other side of the river Pennar. To reach this temple one has to cross the shallow pool of water formed near the hill. You can see the temple reflection in the shallow pool formed of this river. Few steps descends you to the sands of the dry river with some water here and there. After crossing the river, a flight of steps on the hill takes you to the Chenna Kesava Temple. The entrance of temple complex is adorned with a beautiful gopura gateway in the west overlooking the river.
There is a sacred pool in the temple, called as Amrit Sarovar (Nectar Lake), which is believed to have the magical powers to reverse ageing. Legend has it that when Garuda was carrying nectar from Indraloka, a drop fell down and turned into a sacred pool. The eminence of the pool came to be known, when a distressed farmer jumped into it to commit suicide and found himself turned into a young man. He then made his wife and oxen to dip into the pool and they too regained their youth. When the news of the pool reached Satya Loka, worried Lord Brahma sought the help of Lord Vishnu and Siva. Lord Hanuman was ordered, by Lord Shiva and Brahma, to fill the pool and He dropped a mountain into it. Astonishingly, the mountain started floating instead of sinking. Then Lord Vishnu and Siva clamped their feet at its side and the imprints of their foot can still be seen. The foot print of Siva became famous as ‘Rudrapada’ and that of Vishnu as ‘Vishnupada’.
There are other two shrines, in this temple premises, of Santana Malleswara and Uma Maheshwara which are dedicated to Lord Siva. The former along with the Chenna Kesava temple stand parallel to each other while the latter lies to the north of the Mandapa. To the south of the gopura gateway, next to the west prakara wall (entrance of the temple), is the temple of Lord Hanuman.
The sculptures and the carvings of the temple are one of its kind. Some of them depict the marvelous pieces of art like the sculpture of Lord Vishnu and his various forms, dancing Ganapati, Krishna preaching Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, Rama, Sita and Mahishasura mardini. There is also a temple of Sakshi Malleswara (Lord Siva) dating back to 10th century. Aptly called as temple town, Pushpagiri has to be visited to get an insight into one’s spirit.
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