WHY KANCHI? TEMPLE NEAR CITY CAN LIFT LIZARD CURSE

Sridevi Bhudevi Sametha Sri Adinarayana Swamy temple is 50 km from city.

Dates as usually are lost in the passage of time, and Chakravarthula Bhadrinarayana Charyalu, priest of the Adi Narayana Swami temple in Kodakanchi, Jinnaram mandal of Sangareddy district does not really remember when the temple came into being, but the hoary history has been repeated so often that he tells the tale as if he was a witness to it. It has probably been passed along in his family, for he is the 9th generation as the priest for this temple.

Mr Charyalu is not complaining. He is the only priest for the 10 villages in and around Kodakanchi and remains very busy. His two sons, aged 27 and 24, are following his footsteps, though one has done his MPharma and is working in a hospital and the other son has done an MBA. “Like my father tau-ght me the rites and the shastras, I am doing the same with my sons and they are willing

students,” he says proudly.

The story says that this village got its name because of the leading deity, which is the same as in Kanchipuram. Earlier known as Kada Kanchi, over a period of time it has come to be known as Kodakanchi

The other reason this temple should be famous, and is not sufficiently so, is because of the Golden Lizard. People believe that a visit to Kanchipuram removes the doshas incurred by a lizard falling on you, not realising that they have a similar temple close at hand.

Here are a pair of gold and silver lizards on the ceiling and if you touch these, all the accumulated doshams are wiped out. Kodakanchi, about 50 km from Hyderabad, has the Sridevi Bhudevi Sametha Sri Adinarayana Swamy temple. Long, long ago, there was a

karnam (village accountant) Ramaji Rao. He had a dream in which God told him that an idol of his was stuck in a mountain and that he should rescue this and build a temple. “I have come all the way from Kanchi” Rao was told in the dream.

Rao told his mother about the dream and she said that if the dream was repeated then maybe they could take this matter seriously. He did get the same dream the next day. This time he was prepared and asked to be shown a path to take towards the mountain. “I will send a Garuda Pakshi. Follow the bird and wherever it stops, you will find me there,” Rao was told. The dream turned into reality when Rao followed the Garuda Pakshi. He created a path by splitting a mountain and found the idol in a forest. A temple was then built on 200 acres of land and the village was soon recognised as Kada Kanchi, because this idol looked the same as that of the Varada-rajaswamy temple at Kanchi-puram. “In fact the form of the balli (lizard) came along with the idol and this too was added to the temple during its construction,” says Mr Charyulu.

Pujas are conducted in Tamil, though the priest does not talk the language.

This is what he has been taught. And this is what he is teaching his two sons.

While that might be similar, it all ends there. The 200 acres belonging to the temple has gone, distributed as pattas, and only 14 acres remain. This has been given on lease, and earns income for the temple. There is the Gandikunta lake facing the temple and this too is given on lease for a few months to local fishermen.

“While people from the villages, near and far, do come to visit the temple for the lizards, they also take vows and then they do 11 pradakshinas. Once the vow is fulfilled they do 108

pradakshinas,” says Mr Charyulu.

The temple has been renovated, but the old main dwaram has been left intact, giving one a wonderful feeling of being back in circa whenever. The newer part of the temple is colourful, with a large mandapam leading to the sanctum sanctorum. This temple rests on a rock and is surrounded by yesteryear structures. They definitely lend to the story of the temple being more than 700 years old. The old dwaram looks into a koneru (lake) whose water, used for the pujas, is green in colour, probably thick with moss. There is an old wall, which probably led to the main sanctum.

The old peepul tree still lifts the heat off you with its gentle breeze.

Legend has it that Gauthama Rishi had two disciples, and one of their duties was to fill water for their guru. One day when they placed a tumbler of water in front of the guru, a lizard jumped out of it, angering the the sage, who cursed them to turn into lizards. The two disciples stayed at Kanchipuram as lizards. One day Lord Indra came in the form of Gajendra, the elephant, and accompanying him were the Sun and the moon. Lord Indra relieved the disciples from their curse. The belief is that one will be relieved of all diseases if one prays to Lord Varadarajan and touches the lizard on the way out.