Hamsala Deevi — Sri Venugopala swamy temple
This diety residing in this temple is Lord Krishna along with his consorts Rukmini Devi and Sathyabhama. According to archaeological findings, this temple is of a 1000 years old.
Location :
The temple of Hamsaladeevi is located on the banks of the River Krishna, the temple is 0.7 km away from Hamsaladevi village in Diviseems Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. Hamsaladevi is also called “Swan Island”. This temple is located in a sacred place where one branch of the Krishna river merges into the Bay of Bengal.
History :
This temple was built during the Chola Dynasty and is renowned for its architectural brilliance and spirituality. Temple walls were richly carved with the sequences of Ramayana. This serene village is home to one of the 108 Vishnu temples.
Villager’s POV and their perspective towards the temple :
The village tale boasts that it couldn’t have been built in such deep waters by anyone other than the gods.
The villagers say that the village is also famous for its Sagara Sangamam — the point of confluence of the Krishna River and the Bay of Bengal — where one can see three different colors of water emerging.
The villagers also claim that bathing in these waters is a holy experience and blessing, especially during Magha Pournami usually around February.
The villagers also believe that Gods built Gopuram (monumental entrance tower/ornate), some humans witnessed it in the middle of the night and the construction was done half by devatalu and half by humans. They also believe that gods and goddesses built this temple in one single day.
Spiritual History behind Hamsaladeevi temple —
There is a folklore related to this temple. One day two Gandharvas were flying over the Krishna delta, and they came across a sage who was black in complexion. The Gandharvas to their pride and ego made fun of the sage which infuriated them. The infuriated sage cursed the Gandharvas to become crows.
The Gandharvas pleaded for the sage’s mercy and regretted their mistake, they pleaded the sage for a solution to eliminate this curse. The sage asked them to take a bath in the Krishna river near Hamsaladeevi.
As the sage advised, the Gandharvas took a bath in the Krishna river and got back to their actual form as Swan (Hamsa). Hence, the place is popularly known as Hamsaladeevi. It was also known that, sages in the form of swans used to worship Lord Venugopala swamy in the night after taking a bath. So, this reason also adds up to the name of that sacred unsung temple.
Sevas offered to his Lordships —
Every year the temple archakas offer Archana, Bramhotsavam, Sahasra Deepalankarana seva, Sri venugopala swamy kalyanamahotsavam, suprabhata seva, Unjal seva, vasanthotsavam and many other sevas in the temple.
Thank you for spending your precious time in reading my blog, for more interesting blogs about temples, please stay tuned.
Till then, Hare Krishna!
