Travel Guide
Vemulawada is situated around 150Km from Hyderabad and 36Km from Karimnagar. Pilgrims from Hyderabad can reach this place directly bypassing the Karimnagar town by taking a divertion at Siddipet and following the route towards Sirsilla. Vemulawada is another 11Km from Sirisilla.
APSRTC provides direct services to Vemulawada from Hyderabad and Karimnagar. They operate some special buses from various places in the state during the festive season of Maha Shivaratri.
Profile
Vemulawada owes its importance from the sacred and famous temple of Sri Rajarajeswara, an incarnation of Lord Siva. The presiding deity is Sri Raja Rajeswara Swamy, often referred to 'Rajanna' by the local people. To the right of the presiding deity is the idol of Sri Raja Rajeswari Devi and to the left is the idol of Sri Laxmi Sahitha Siddi Vinayaka. In the temple premises there is a holy tank called the Dharma Gundam. Three mandapas were constructed on it and the statue of Lord Eshwara resides in the middle. The Lord is seen in a meditation posture with five lingas surrounding the holy tank. The lighting of the holy lamp or Ganda Deepam is also considered auspicious by the devotees visiting the shrine. Although devotees make offerings to the presiding diety in different ways, the most important one is Kode Mokku (offering of bull to God). The devotees who bring the bull take them round the temple and tie it somewhere in the temple complex. The significance of this ritual is that devotees will be cleansed of their sins and they can beget children. This temple attracts followers of both Vaishnavism (worshippers of Vishnu), and Saivism (worshippers of Siva), and is also being frequented by Jains and Buddists.
History
The puranic version has it that Lord Siva after having stayed at Kashi, Chidambaram, Srisailam and Kedareswaram chose to reside at Vemulawada. History records that Vemulawada was ruled by successive dynasties - the Ikshwakus, the Satavahanas and later by the Chalukyas who made it their state capital.The sculptures on the temples also depict the cultures of Jainism and Buddhism. A unique feature of the temple at Vemulawada is that it also houses a 400 year old mosque inside its premises. It is believed that the mosque was built as a tribute to a muslim devot
Route Map
