Back to Tirupati, Nellore and Hyderabad

After completing our Andhra yatra, I went to my native place Nellore to spend some time with my sisters. My husband went to Hyderabad and Machilipatnam to spend time with his side of the family.
As my daughter was visiting her in-laws in Chennai along with her husband and children and since they also wanted to visit my sisters, I co-ordinated my stay with their trip to Nellore. They made a day trip by Taxi and we all thoroughly enjoyed our family reunion. After they left, I continued my stay in Nellore. Nothing much accomplished while I was there. I very much wanted to visit my High School and could not do that. But, did visit the area I grew up and the Temples that we visited everyday. Did some saree shopping. Was happy to spend Pongal/Sankranthiri with my eldest sister.

On Jan 16th, I returned to Tirupati as I have previously booked my ticket to Hyderabad from there. Nirmala decided to travel with me to Hyderabad to spend time with her niece. On Jan 24th, she invited us to join her niece and family and to our surprise, she arranged a small family party with cake etc. She gifted us with silk saree and silk dhoti also. Now I remember that we were with her in Tirumalai for our 40th also and had wonderful darsan of Lord Venkateswara. While in Hyderabad, I caught severe cold and suffered a lot. My husband's two sisters-in-law took very good care of me.

Spent two weeks in Hyderabad and then we both joined my friend Nirmala for our main yatra, The Maha Kumbh Mela trip.

A brief sketch of the five Araamas

Since I have fallen behind in writing my posts, I am writing fast and this post does not do any justice to the glory of that land !!! 

By the way, please copy and pate the two links below in this post, about the 3rd and the fourth araamas..

                     Mukteswaram (Mukteswara, a Shiva Temple)
                     Appanapalli (Sri Balaji Temple)
                     Antarvedi  (Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swami Temple)
                     Vaanapalli (Pallaalamma Talli Temple, near Kakinaada)

Pancharamas are where the swayambhuvu of Lord Shiva is worshiped in the form of lingam.

 The Five Araamas are:
1. Ksheeraaramam
2. Drakshaaraamam
3. Amaraaraamam
4. Somaraamam
5. Kumararaamam

1. Ksheeraamam - Ksheera Rama Lingeswara Swamy

As the name itself suggests we perform abhishekam to
Lord Shiva using milk. 

The Sthala puranam talks about the life of Maharshi Upamanyu, a devotee of Lord Shiva. Born into a poor family, his mother could not provide him with sufficient milk to drink. She suggested that he pray to Shiva who only can provide him with sufficient milk. He obeyed the mother and started worshipping Shiva by chanting Shiva Panchakshari mantra. Lord Shive, pleased, bestowed him with two boons. Feeding Ksheera samudram and Shiva Saayudham (or Sannidhi).

The town is called Paalakollu, located in West Godavari district. The Temple was built by Reddy Rajulu.

How to Reach PaalaKollu:

Train route: Narsapur Express from Hyderabad-Vijayawada-Narsapur,
Paalakollu comes in between Vijayawada to Narsapur.

2. Draksharaamam - Bheemeshwara Swamy

This is the First Araamam of five. We worship the Lord Shiva as
Bheemeshwara Swamy. Here Shiva linga is 60 ft tall. Story is Daksha
Prajapati performed Yagnam here that is why this place is named as
Draksharaamam. The specialty of temple is Shiva lingam mixed with
white and black colors. I already mentioned about our experience in this Temple in my post of May 19, 2013.

How to Reach Draksharaamam:

It is resided in East Godavari District near Ramachandrapuram.
Ramachandrapuram is 30 Kms (approx.) far from Kakinada town. You can
reach Kakinada by bus or train from both Vijayawada and Hyderabad.

3. Amara aramam - Amara lingeswara Swamy

http://wikimapia.org/11987687/Amaralingeswara-swamy-temple
After killing the demon Tarakasura, one part of shiva lingam has
fallen here and Indra performed puja here that is why we worship him
Amaralingeswara Swamy. My mind is blank for this. I just cannot recall anything about this Temple.

How to Reach Amaravathi:

It is resided in Guntur district Amaravathi is 30 kms from Guntur and
Vijayawada. Bus facility is available from Guntur and Vijayawada.
There is no train facility.

4. Soma araamam - Soma Lingeswara Swamy

After killing the demon Tarakasura, one part of shiva lingam has
fallen here and Chandra performed puja here that is why we worship him
Somalingeswara Swamy. Here specialty is in normal days Shiva lingam
usually in white but it changes to wheatish color in Amavasya (Lord
shiva likes this day).

How to reach Somaramam:

It is resided in West Godavari district Gunupudi, near Bhimavaram.We
have to get down at Bhimavaram by train or Bus and travel for 2 Kms to
reach Gunupudi.

5. Kumara araamam - Kaala Bhairavudu

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/85145065

The above link shows photo taken by someone else. I just used it.

This is last araamam of all five araamas. This was constructed in the
dynasty of King of Chalukya Bheemudu. Here Shivalingam is made with
lime stone.

How to reach Kumaraamam:

It is in East Godavari District, near Samarla Kota. It's in
Vijayawada - Vizag route rail route.

A short comment on Kedarnath etc.

I just feel sad that such a Holy place was hit by hardships !!! At the same time, feel fortunate to have visited Kedar, Badri, Gangotri and Yamunotri in 2006. As I mentioned previously, we could not go to Joshi Math. Even though I have beautiful memories of that trip, I also visit my blog and read what I saw. Yesterday, a young man Bhushan who said that he reads my blog, advised that I should keep a diary while traveling so that I won't forget the details. He is 100 percent right. That is what happened during my December 2012 Andhra yatra. I remember very little. My two companions are not interested in the life of this blog. So, no help from them. I remember the truck loads of Tulasi (sacred Basil) in Hanuman Temple. Wherever we went it was Tulasi in abundance. Never in my life I have seen so much of those stems. Here in my home I grow them in pots and they are very special for me. They are so delicate and susceptible to those spider mites, I lost the plants many times. I start from the seeds again. I used to grow and take them to our local Temple during the Sravana month and the authorities sold them in minutes. I haven't done that in 5 years. Currently, I have two small but healthy ones growing. Locally, I know some of my young friends have huge plants in their homes.

Having written this short note, I should begin my 2012-2013 yatra posts soon. The main yatra was the Maha Kumbh Mela and I am yet to begin that. I will finish my Andhra ones first and follow the calendar for the other sacred places that we visited.