Only men worship at this temple
Women stop at the entrance of the Sanjeevaraya Swamy temple
Hundreds of men gathered at the Sanjeevaraya Swamy inscription under a tree at Tippayapalle on Sunday for the annual pongali prasadam event as part of a custom that has existed for generations. It strictly excludes women from the prayers and other rituals. By tradition, only male inhabitants would worship Sanjeevaraya Swami in the village set in Pullampeta mandal.
According to the villagers, a Brahmin saint came to this village and stayed there for years. He earned the love and respect of all and was treated as a family member by the villagers. He left the village after giving the inhabitants an inscription on a rock slate and advised them to worship it.
It was upon a restriction proposed by this
saintly figure that only male members of the village did the worship and kept the womenfolk away from the surroundings of the tree. The villagers, as advised by the saint, named this inscription as Sanjeevaraya Swami. For the past many years, they worshipped this as per
custom.
No temple has been built for the inscription.
Every year, the Sunday before the Sankranti festival, a large-scale festival is celebrated for Sanjeevaraya Swami. All those who left the village to find work in other regions and abroad
would try and be present for this festival. The villagers make pongal in the premises as an offering. Women pray from outside the enclosure.
A woman from the village said she has faith in and reverence for Sanjeevaraya Swami. She came from Hyderabad
with her family to offer prayers from outside. Krishna Reddy, a local, said he has been observing this custom from childhood like others in the village. The inscription, which they worship as god, is kept under the tree at the west side of the village.