PENUKONDA: August 2011

SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYA 500 + 1 YEARS Celebrations

History of PENUKONDA (GHANAGIRI)

Penukonda (Telugu: Big Hill) is a small town in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also known as Ghanagiri. It is 70 km away from Anantapur town. This region was controlled at different points in history by the Hoysalas, Chalukyas, Vijayanagar, Nawabs, Maratha chieftain Murari Rao, Tipu Sultan, Nizam and eventually came under British rule after it was ceded to the British by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was a melting pot of different religions but the town and fort were established by early Hoysala kings, who were practitioners of Jainism.

After Krishna Deva Raya, Venkatapathi rayalu, the Emperor of Vijayanagar, took over. He made Raya Dalavayi Koneti Naidu (son of Kasturi Naidu, grandson of Akkappa Naidu, great-grandson of Kanaka Naidu of Chandragiri), as the governor of Penukonda and conferred him the title with Maha-raja-raja-sri and celebrated Koneti Naidu's marriage to Swarna. Koneti Naidu hailed from the Vasarasi family of Balija caste. Koneti Naidu ruled Penukonda, Rayadurga and Kundurpi Forts for about 17 years (1635-1652AD). After the ruling of Koneti Nayudu his discendants Raya Dalavayi Sri Venkatapathi Nayudu, peda timmappa nayudu, venkatapathi nayudu, koneti nayudu, venkatapathi nayudu, rajagopala nayudu, timmappa nayudu ruled this Penukonda country.

Because of its ancient Jain history and presence of many temples it is one of the most revered places for Jains. The famous Pache Parsvanath Swamy Temple, with idol of Parsvanath containing a single green coloured stone (Pacha) is located here. The famous Babaiah Dargah makes this place venerable to Muslims as well.

Hazrath Baba Fakruddin was a great Sufi Saint of 12th century. Purportedly before coming to Penukonda, he was a king of Sistan and Shahpur in Iran. Legend says that he was searching for a place to settle and his Guru gave him a dry twig and said to him: ..wherever this twig will bloom to a big plant stay there... He planted the twig and slept under a tree only to awake and saw it become a beautiful plant and he stayed there. He is called Babaiah by the local people and due to the love and respect he garnered, many men of various faiths have taken his name over centuries

Places of Penukonda

The monuments of Gagan Mahal is famous. The important places are Fort Entrance and Hanuman Statue, Gali Gopuram, Thimmarasu Bandi Khana, Kasi Viswanatha Swamy Temple, Thimmarasu Tomb, Cheruvu, Pasirokkiri Bhavi, Palokkiri Bhavi.

It is also famous for Babaiah Darga. Yearly urusu and Gandham conducted here which is famous for Muslims and Hindus.

Penukonda fort is an ancient fort which has historic importance. Penukonda used to be the summer resort of Sri Krishnadevaraya. There is a building in the fort named Gagan Mahal in which he used to stay during summer.

There is also a prison in which Timmarusu was kept. It is a very small construction with only small windows for ventilation. Timmarusu was the man behind the success of Krishnadevaraya but his end was very tragic. There was a conspiracy against him in the royal palace and the king himself imprisoned him and became the cause of his death.
Local people of Penukonda proudly claim that there are 365 temples here and if one temple is visited per a day it takes one year to complete the visits to all the temples. Most famous of all the temples are the twin temples Shivalayam and Ramalayam. Each stone used for the construction of surrounding walls of the temples have the stories related to Lord Shiva or Lord Rama. These wall paintings fascinate the visitors with their beauty and elegance.
Recently a big statue of Kumbhakarna is constructed which is 44 feet high and 144 feet long. Hundreds of kids can play on the statue and ladders are also provided for them. There are 3, 4 rooms in the stomach of Kumbhakarna.

Check for other : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penukonda

PENUKONDA

Saturday 6 August 2011

Photo Gallery

Penukonda Jakka Suresh