Vontimitta Lord Rama Temple,Cudappa,Andhra Pradesh
Ontimitta Rama temple is the only temple where we don’t find to see hanuman idol along with Other idols of Rama,Sita and Lakshmana.This temple is considered as Bhadrachalam of Andhrapradesh.This is the only temple where the Sri rama kalyanam occurs in the mid night and that too outside of the temple.The most spectacular thing of this temple is,Muslims offer prayers in this temple!No wonder saying that india is a sacred land with Unity in Diversity!!
- According to the history it is said that the idols are established here by jambavantha(a great monkey warrior in epic Ramayana).In Treta yug when brahmarshi Viswamitra wanted to perform a yajna(ritual sacrifice),he requested Lord Rama and his brother Lakshman to protect that from the evil forces,by that time both Rama and Lakshman were Kids,and this lead to the killing of evil force named Thataki.In the year 1652,a french traveller named Jean-Baptiste Tavernier when visited this temple,he described the architecture of this temple as one of the best in indian temple architecures.The speciality of this temple is even muslims offer prayers in this temple.No wonder why we call india as the county with unity in diversity!This temple is located in Andhra Pradesh,Cuddapah,in a village named Vontimitta.
Speciality of the Temple:
This temple is 450 years old. and it has 3 pylons(gopur).These pylon construction represents the culture of chola kingdom.Main entrance of this temple is 160 feet in height. There is a venue in this temple which is made of with 32 rock pillars which is called rang mandap.This construction represents the culture and tradition of vijayanagar kingdom.The pillars at the south side of this venue consists of the idols of lord Vishnu and Krishna.On the walls of the temple we can see all the idols of the Lord Vishnu incarnations,the main incidents and events of indian great and sacred epics Ramayana and mahabharata.
Following are the rarest specialities of this great temple
1 We don’t find Hanuman idol in this temple as it is believed that by the time the idols of Rama,Sita and Lakshman are established here,Lord Rama,Hanuman did not meet each other.
2.This is the only temple where the marriage event of Rama and Sita happens every year in the midnight and that too outside of the temple,According to the ancient epics,The reason for this is as follows:The entire universe was witnessed the marriage of Rama and Sita except Moon!,so when moon requested Lord Rama that he would like to watch Rama’s marriage then Lord Rama fulfilled Moon’s request hence it is done outside of the temple and that too in the midnight on a full moon day!
3. This is the only Rama temple in india where majority of Muslims offer prayers to Lord Rama!,probably this is one of the reason why we believe india is the great country where we can see Unity in diversity!
Mythology : When saint viswamitra wanted to perform a ritual sacrifice(Yajna),he asked Rama and Lakshman to protect the sacrifice from the evil forces ,by that time both were kids,and this is when the evil force Thataki is killed by Rama.Also after the marriage of Rama with Sita,other saints mrukhund,shringi as well requested Rama to protect their ritual sacrifices,Lord Rama did protect those as well,as a token of honour these saints established the idols of Rama ,Sita and Lakshman here in this place ,by that time Lord Rama did not meet hanuman hence we do not see here hanuman idol.
In 19th century a great person named Vavilakolanu Subba Rao has helped big time in renovating this temple.He is called as Andhra Valmiki (ancient saint who wrote epic ramayana) .He collected money and made ornaments and idols of Rama,Sita and Lakshman.The great Telugu Poet Pothana(translated a portion of maha bharata from sanskrit to Telugu) also belongs to this place,and he dedicated the bhagavatam to lord Rama in this temple.Even there is a temple we can see here for Pothana. The famous Tallapaka Annamayya also belong to this place.
It is believed that the reason for muslims worshipping this temple is as follows:There used to be an officer whose name is imam beq who worked for King Abdul Nabi Khan.Once this officer visited this temple and asked the devotees that if the god responds if one calls him with name?,then people there said Yes ,if we call with pure heart and devotion then the officer called thrice with the name of the god RAMA!,and miraculously a response was heard thrice with OM(the first ever letter of the universe),from then that officer became a great devotee and constructed many man made wells.This lead to offer prayers by muslims which is a unique custom in this temple which is followed even now.
How to reach : This temple is 1.5 K.M in distance from vontimitta village,8 K.M distance from Bhakkar pet and 25 K.M from kadapa.There is bus facility also available from kadapa to this temple.
Visiting times : From morning 6 to evening 8
Contact of temple: 08589 – 274123
Location: Vontimitta, Andhra Pradesh 516213, India
