At Siddhi Vinayak Temple, Ainavilli

Inside View of the temple

Visweswaraswamy Temple

From Amalapuram we proceeded to Ainavilli to see the famous Siddhi Vinayak temple located in scenic surroundings of Coastal Andhra called Konaseema where one can find lush greenery with coconut trees, banana trees and many paddy fields with flowing brooks passing by . After traveling nearly 14kms we saw a small temple with a spacious space inside. Here the main sanctum is seen at a lower level. Lord Ganesh is seen on a two-foot high stone pedestal with two hands bearing a modak in one hand and showing varada mudra with another hand. Though the idol is small it appeared very pretty covered with gold-coated kavacha .This idol is regarded as Swayam Bhu ( self-manifested) . Daksha prajapati worshipped the Lord  here before performing Yagna at Daksharamam.

 According to some puranas, Sage Vyasa installed the Lord here.  In 1320 A.D.  Sri Malladi Bapannavadhanulu,the maternal grandfather of Sripada Srivallabha, performed Swarna Mahaganapti Yagna and was blessed with divine vision  of the Lord. The presiding deity installed in southwest corner is seen facing South Gopuram . The lord facing south is believed to bless devotees with wealth and prosperity.The temple was renovated by Eastern Chalukya kings in tenth century and later by Peddapuram and Tuni rulers. Srivatsavai Jagapati Raju Bahadur of Peddapuram developed Ainavilli and Mukteswaram temples. Facing the eastern gopuram is seen the shrine of Visweswara Swamy along with Annapoorna Devi.To the right side of this shrine, the temple of Kesava swamy along with Sridevi and Bhu Devi is seen.

 This temple was built in ninth century. On the left side there is a separate shrine for Goddess Annapoorna facing south. Previously the Kheshtrapalaka (Guradian deity) was supposed to be Kesava swamy. But later during the reign of Eastern Chalukya kings, the shrine of Kala Bhairava was built in North east direction and regarded as the guardian deity of this temple. In this temple many rituals and ceremonies like Lakshmi Ganapati Homam, Aksharabhyasam, and Abhishekam are done. The festival of Ganesh Chaturdhi is celebrated for nine days and poojas are done during Kartik month. 

Every month special poojas are performed on Chaviti, Dasami and Ekadasi. On Sankranti a prabha festival is celebrated. Daily annadanam is organized here in the afternoon. The temple timings are from 5.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the morning and from 3.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. in the evening. Abhishekam is done from 7.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. One can book Lakshmi Ganapati Homam through online also. The nearest town is Ravulapalem at a distance of 24 kms. From Rajahmundry it is at a distance of 55 kms and 72kms from Kakinada. If you visit this temple you can also have an opportunity of witnessing the beautiful surroundings of Konaseema region.

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  18th February, 2018                                                        Somaseshu Gutala