CENSUS OF INDIA 1981 SERIES 2 ANDHRA PRADESH DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK KHAMMAM PARTS XIII-A & B VILLAGE &: TOWN DIRECTORV VILLAGE Be TOWNVVISE PRIMARY CENSUS ABSTRACT S_ S_ .JAYA RAO OF THE '~D1AN ADMINISTRATIVE SERV1CE DIRECTOR OF CENSUS OPERA.TJONS ANDHRA PRADESH PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH '19B6 THE TEMPLE OF BHADRACHALAM The motif presented on the cover page represent"s the famous Bhadrechalarn Temple located on the left bank of river GodaL'ari In Bhadrachalam taluk of Kharnrnam district. Th/s sacred sear of Lord Rama has a historic background of several centuries. and is recO­ gnised as one anJong the 25 noted I<Rarna Kshetra.f17s" of our country. This pious centre in rnerit, is considered next to Ayodhya, as the Lord is I;arnt:;;d as "Bhoga Rama" befitting the stat'../s of an emperor's son. In Gautarni Mahatmva of Brahm anda Purana the following couplet IS written regarding the origin of this place: "Bhav;shyasi Mahatmatwam Bhaktani Giriroopodhruth Rarnbhadra Padankatvvat Bhacradri riti Vishrutaha·' Two versions are prevalent cbout the Origin of the name ofBhadrachalam. One section believes that due t J Rarnchandra's brief stay on this rnountain, this place has corne to be known as 'Bhadradrj', after the narn~ uf the Lord. Another equqlly popular veTsior. is that this mountain is named after 'Bhadra' by his parents Meru and Menaka who vvith hard penance earned a boorn frorn the Lord to settle on his tOlNer. The Lord's IL tus feet on Bhadra's head is still seen in the temple which is worshipped by devotees. Lord Sri Rarna's exile syrn ':1o/s- Panchavathi. PJrnashala, Godavari. Sabari Etapaka, Lakshrnana Gutla, Ravana Gutta, all have got face value of epIc Rarnayana, whIch has led (he famous Historians to the concluSion that this place is sanctified by the! stroll at Sri Rama In his sojourn. During exile period, sages Bharadvvaja, Agastya. etc., guided him in his mission, to clear the earth from Rakshasas or demons lNho were perpetuating "A dharrna " . As per the second version, Lora manifested Himself In the 'Paratattvva' shape, as per hiS previous boon granted to Bhadra Rishi vvirh four hands, hold. ng bavv and arrow in front hands, conch and disc, decorating his rear hands. sitting in 'Padrnasana' lNith his consort en the Left thigh and brother Lak~hrnana standing on sarne left side. One rnore peculiarity about the ilnage of Lord Rarna here IS that vvhile the image of Lord Vishnu has the 'Chakram# in tre right hand and 'Sankhu' i,~ the left Srj Rarna has it vice versa. The follJwing is the pertInent explanation tor this. Lord Vishnu takes an incarnation in each 'Yuga' for destroying the wicked and protecting the virtuous as explained in the fallavving verse: 'Parithraanaaya Sadhunam. Vinaasaayar;ha dushkrutham, Oharmasams­ thaapanaarthaaya Sambhavaarni Yuge Yuge'. Lord Rama had finished the task of destreying Ravana and his rak shasas. He had no more use for his 'Chakra' vvhich had therefore bc>en assigned·a piace in His left hand. His next tas/.:: vvas to orotect the virtuous, for whIch He had taken 'Sankhu in His right hand. Here the Godavari is knovvn as "Gautarni" vvhich is supposed to be a channel of the Ganges brought by sage GautamB which circum<.rnbu.ates this piigrjl77 centre from three SIdes and is called by various sages' names as ""Vas;stha, Kaushika. Vynat:heya and Jamadagni" as foster daughter of the sages. After the efflux a-<.rnany centuries the prt::sent idols if,stalled in the temple vvere picked up by one II Pokala Damrnakka" a great devotee belonging (0 the 'Sabara' (Savara) communIty. The Lord appeared in her dr~arn and revealed the location of idols left Without any worship on 'BfJadragiri', the present location of the temple of the Lord. Thus, the p.Jor woman of 'Bhadrireddipalern' village (Pokala Dammakka) raiSed a modest structure and introduced daily I/Vorship and 'Kalyanam' a/feTIng vvi/d berries as food, vvhich Sabar;, of Ramayana offered to Lcrd Rama. Afterwards Saint Ramadas raised the present super-structure of the temple spending (6Iakhs) of Mohiris From Government Revenue and other contributions for constructing the compound, Sanctum-sanc­ torium, Vimana. Chakra and to procure various ornaments including costly jewels, Vahanas, other articles,. et"c. He thus made -7 Full Fledged arrangement" For performing daily pujas and appointed 20 pujaries in a befitting manner. Kancharla Gopanna alias 'Ramadas' was a great devotee born in Nelakondapal/e village near Khammal11 in the 17th century. His maternal uncles \Nere the famous Akkanna and Madanna who \Nere then adoring the chairs of Prime Minister and Commander-in-chief at Golconda in Abul Hassan Taneesha·s regime. Gopanna got appointed as Tahsildar of Husnabad which is inclusive of present Kothaguden7, Burgam­ pad and Bhadrachalarn taluks. He \Nas destined to build -the present temple of Bhadrachalam for which he underwent severe punishments in the Golconda Fort Jail at the hands of the then king Taneesha. After long prayers and vvail of Rarnadas,.. Sri Rama and Lakshmana both appeared in the dream of the king and paid back the six lakhs of gold coins known as HRarna Madas" and ordered him to release Ramadas imme­ diately. The king personally carne to prison and released the devotee, restoring again him fonner Tahsildar's post. besides presenting many gifts and issued a I.IFirman" to spend in future the entire government revenue of Husnabad Taluk for the temple purpose. The Navvab also used to send .... Mangala Su1:ras'" and "Mu1:yala Talarnbralu" every year on Sri Rama Navantf day for celebrating Kalyanam in a grand manner befitting the Royal patranage. Even after the fall of Kutub Sahi Dvnasty, the same tradition was n1aintained by succeeding Asafzahi kings. The second Nizam granted Rs. 40,000/- every year besides sending usual gifts on SJi RaIna Navami day. The tradition of sending 'Mutyala Talambralu' is continued even now by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Subsequently this tempe is renovated vvith 20 lakhs of rupees by the cornmittee constituted L y the Andhra Pradesh Governmen'L. The temple is secular symbol of our country patronised by Hindus and Muslims alike. (Bhadrachalam Road Railvvay Station is 40 kms. from the pi/grirn town which is connected vvith regular bus service. This pilgrim centre is also well connected by State Road Transport Corporation buses vvith many important places like Hyderabad, Vijayavvada, Rajahn7undry,. Vishakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Khamn7am, Nizam.abad, Nalgonda etc.) .source: District Collector. Khammam. FOREWORD T'h-e 'cH'S't'ric't census handbook (DCH), compiled by the Census Organisation on behalf of the Stcat-e Governments. ,is one of the most valuable products of the Census. The DCH is constantly referred 1:0 by p,tannet's. admiAistrators. academicians and researchers. It i.s Inter alia used for delimitation of con­ stHwencies, fGTmwlat-ion of focal level and regional plans and as an aid to District administration. The ·dist~ic1: census hand:book is the only publicaf"ion which provides Primary Census Abstract (peA) data upto 'Vil'lame 1ev-e'1 for tITle rlAra I areas and wardwise for each city or town. It also provides data on infrastructure ;and amenities i'n villages and towns, etc. The dis'frict census handbook series was initiated during the 1951 Census. It contained impor­ tant census tables and peA for each village and town of the district. During 1961 Census the scope of ·the DCH was en'larged and it contained a descriptive account of the district. administrative statistics, 'oensus tables and a village and town directory, including PCA. The 1971 DCH series was planned in three parts. Part-A related to village and town directory. Part-B to village and town PCA and Part- C comprised analvtical report, administrative statistics. district census tables and certain analytical tables ,based on peA and amenity data in respect of villages. However. in some states it was confined to ,dislf'ict 'census tables and in a few cases altogether given up due to delay in compilation and printing, Whit-e designing the fOf"mat of 1981 DCH series some flew features along with the restructurino ,of bhe fOf'mats of village and town directory have been attempted. At the same time. comparability with t-,h;e 1971 data has also been kept in view. All the amenities except power supply in the village have been -b4'ought together in the village directory with the instruction that in case an amenity is not avai­ ,Iab'e ,in thereferrent village the distance in broad ranges from the nearest place where the amenity is ;8vaiifabht may be given. The restructuring of the format of the village directory and incorporating mo·re 9lChaustive data on infrastructure aspect particularly in relation to amenities and land-use patte1"A is expected to further meet the need of micro level planning for rural areas. It is expected 1:0 'he<lop not only in local area planning but in the regulating the prOVISion of goods and se·rvi·ces as weH so as to minimise the regional imbalances in the process of development. A few new Hems of information have also been introduced to meet some of the requirements of the Revised Minimum >Needs Prog4"smme. Such new items of information as adult literacy centres. primary health subcentres and communiV health workers in the village have been introduced in the village directory with this objective in mind. The new item on approach to the village is to have an idea about the villages in the district whieh aore inaccessible. A new column, "total population and number of households'" has been introdu­ ced to sKarnine the correlation of the amenities with the population and number of households they serve.