Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad,India

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Ramakrishna Math

• Destination: Hyderabad

Ramakrishna Math located at Domalguda, behind Tank Bund in Hyderabad was constructed by one of the disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in the year 1974. Ramakrishna Math was established by Swami Vivekananda in the memory of his guru ‘Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’ in the year 1898 in Beluru, Karnataka and the Ramakrishna Math in Hyderabad is a part and one of the branches of ‘Ramakrishna Mission’.
There are different departments in the Ramakrishna Math which include Ramakrishna Universal temple, VIOL (Vivekananda Institute of Languages), Vivekananda Institute of Human Excellence, Vivekananda Health Centre, Vivekananda Library, Gita Darshan (an audio-visual museum on the Gita), Art Gallery, Telugu Publication Department, Book Stall and Sharada Vanam.
All these departments actively participate for the society without expecting any profit from the people whom they serve. Regular activities of the math are teaching of foreign languages, personality development programs, feeding the poor, education for economically backward children, mobile hospital, health centre, library, relief and rehabilitation of the victims of natural calamities, etc. All these activities are either offered for free or for nominal fee.

Other Details:

Different departments have various timings and those will be updated in Official website of Ramakrishna math.
No Fee is Required.

Ashta Lakshmi Temple

• Destination: Hyderabad

Ashta Lakshmi Temple is located at Kothapet in Hyderabad. This temple is most winsome and unique pilgrimages of Hindu religion. The prime diety of the temple is Lakshmi Devi in 8 splendid forms known as Adilakshmi, AishwaryaLakshmi, SanatanLaksmi, DhanyaLakshmi, Gajalakshmi, Vijaylakshmi, Varalakshmi, Dhana Laksmi.
The temple was constructed in the year 1996 April by Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. The architects who designed the temple are Padmashri S M Ganapati Sthapati, M Mathiyalagan Sthapathi. This temple has the style of south Indian architecture adopted from the temple of Chennai. There are about 134 vigrahams in the temple. Cement and soil are used for the construction of the temple. All the eight Lakshmis in the temple are decorated using different golden ornaments like Kasula Peru necklace and so, which looks awesome. The goddess of wealth ‘Devi Lakshmi’ is carved magnificently out of lifeless stone in order to shower the boon of prosperity, bliss, happiness and salvation upon their reverend devotees. When we look at temple in the nights from far evokes the image of a bright bride draping milky light all over it. It is feast for the eyes of every visitor.
Devotees visit this place regularly and on the special days Varalaxmi Puja and Diwali there will be heavy crowd of devotees to offer special prayers in Ashta Lakshmi Temple. This temple has become one of tourist places of Hyderabad.

Timing:

6.00am-12.00pm
5.00pm-9.00pm
6.00am-1.00pm(Friday)
5.00pm-10.00pm
6.00am-1.00pm(Sunday)
5.00 pm – 9.00 pm

Jagannath Temple

• Destination: Hyderabad

Jagannath Temple located near Banjara hills Road no.12 in Hyderabad. It was constructed by the Oriya community in the present and latest style for the god Jagannath, where Jagannath means “lord of Universe” known to be Hindu god Lord Krishna one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. People say that the temple looks same as the Jagannath Temple of Puri in Orissa.
Speaking about the architecture of the temple, “Shikhara” at the top of the temple is in the height of 70 feet. The whole temple is built with the sand stone that is specially bought from Orissa which made the temple red colour. About 600 tonnes of sand stones and 60 stone carvers used for the construction of the temple. Shrines of other gods such as Lakshmi, along with Shiva, Ganesh, Hanuman and Navagrahas are hosted in this temple. The temple is also a place where we see Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra the siblings of Lord Krishna. There are different arts on the walls of the temple which attracts the devotees as well as visitors and tourists to the temple and has become one of the tourist attractions of Hyderabad.

Timings and other details of Temple:

Morning: 6:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Evening: 5:00 p .m- 9:00 p.m.
No entry fee is required.

Trimulgherry Fort

• Destination: Hyderabad

Trimulgherry Fort located in Hyderabad in the area of Cantonment. The fort was built in the year of 1867, surrounded by a deep trench that is about five kilometres in length. During the period of British rule it consisted of barracks, arsenals, stables, mews, mess houses, and military offices. The fort is now turned into a Military Hospital serving many soldiers of the country.
Trimulgherry Fort is also one of the historical monuments of Hyderabad and looks so impressive which also attract many local and tourists of Hyderabad.

Yadagirigutta Temple

• Destination: Nalgonda

Location

Yadagirigutta Temple, also known as Sri Lakshmi narasimha Temple is the holy abode of Lord Narasimha, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is located on the hillock at Yadagirigutta village in the Nalgonda district of Telangana. It is situated at a distance of around 60 km from Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana.

History of the Temple

In Treta yugam, there lived a sage named Yadarishi. He was the son of great sage Rishyasrunga and Santa Devi. It is said that he did penance inside a cave on this hill between Bhongir and Raigiri with the blessings of Lord Anjaneya to please Lord Narasimha. Seeing his great devotion, Lord Narasimha appeared in front of him in five different forms as Jwala, Ugra, Gandabherunda, Yogananda and Lakshminarasimha. They later turned themselves into finely sculpted forms and worshipped now as Pancha Narasimha Kshetram. The Puranas and traditional accounts related to this shrine are widely popular among the devotees. There is also a mention about the origin of the temple in Skanda Purana.
According to one more legend, it is said that Lord Vishnu, mesmerized by Yadarishi’s penance, sent Sri Anjaneya to take Rishi to the holy spot. It is at this spot; Lord Narasimha appeared in front of him in the form of Lakshmi narasimha. The spot can be still seen at the foot of Yadagiri hillock, which is just 500 metres from the temple. Sage Yadarishi worshipped Lord for many years on this hillock. After the sage attained moksha, number of tribals came here to worship the Lord. But not being very learned, these devotees began to indulge in improper worship. As a result, Sri Lakshmi narasimha moved into the hills. The tribal devotees searched their Lord for many years but couldn’t find him.
Many years later, Lord appeared in the dream of a devoted lady of the tribe and directed him to the cave and revealed himself to all showing his five majestic avatars. The puja vidhanam (Puja procedure) was set by Late Sri Vangeepuram Narasimha charyulu who served as Sthanacharya of this temple. Lord Narasimha is also called as “Vaidya Narasimha” among his devotees as he cures many chronic diseases and makes one immune to the influence of bad planets, witchcraft and black magic. A mandala (40 day) pradakshina is performed by many devotees to please the Lord to get cured of chronic diseases.

Construction of the Temple

As soon as you enter the Simhadwaram of the Temple, you will see Hanuman temple on the right side. There is a horizontal rock gap of about 10 inches width and 60 square feet in area exactly below the Hanuman image. This horizontal narrow cave is believed to be the spot where the Lord manifested himself as “Gandhabherunda”, one of the Swarupas of Lord Narasimha. A big hall is there towards the left side, where the devotees generally sit. The front pillar of the temple is a constructed sculpture whereas the rear pillars exhibits the actual shrine of the God, the ‘Garbha Gudi’, a natural cave of about 30 feet length and 12 feet width cut into a hill. At the top of the Sikharam of Sanctum Sanctorum of this temple, is the golden Sudarshana Chakra (about 3 ft x 3 ft) of Lord Vishnu. The weapon is a symbol by which this temple is identified from as far as 5 km. The cave is formed under a huge rock and passage is of just 5 feet in height. Thus, the very natural formation of the cave itself makes one bow involuntarily to the Lord. Special Pujas are performed at Peetha, which is on the left side of the passage. There are also the actual images of the Lord at the end of the cave. One can see the two rocks forming a vertical cup of about one foot between them. On one of the rock, we can see the image in the shape of a serpent head. This is said to be the one more Swarupa of Lord Narasimha known as “Jwala Narasimha”.
It is also said that the divine serpent still moves about the image. On the opposite rock, there is another image of a figure seated in intense meditation and this is believed to be the image of Yogananda Narasimha, the third Swarupa of Lord Narasimha.
The idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Narasimha are made in silver and kept at the original ‘Vigraha’ for worship. The superstructure of the temple has its base on the huge rock which forms the cave.

Best Time to Visit

October to March
The annual Brahmothsavam is celebrated in the month of February or March every year. Thousands of pilgrims flock here during this 11 days long festival.

Temple Timings

The temple remains open for public from 4 AM to 9:30 PM every day.

Official Website

For more details about the temple, visit www.yadagiriguttasrilakshminarasimhaswamy.org .

Transportation

By Air

Hyderabad Airport is the nearest one, 83 km away from the temple and is well connected to major cities of India and abroad.

By Rail

The nearest railway station is at Bhongir, which is just 12 km away. It lies on the Kazipet-Secunderabad rail route.

By Road

There are regular buses from Hyderabad and Nalgonda to Yadagirigutta. There are wide stone steps to climb up and down the hill. There is also a good motorable road to the top of the hill from down below.

Bhongir Fort

• Destination: Bhongiri

Bhongir Fort was built by the Western Chalukya ruler, Tri-bhuvana-malla Vikramaditya VI in 10th century on a single rocky hill in Bhongir with a single monolithic rock and was named as Tribhuvanagiri. But later the name was modified into Bhuvanagiri and now presently called as Bhongir. It is about 48 kilometres from Hyderabad and located in Nalgonda district. The fort is spread over 40 acres of land and is 500 feet high on a hill. Bhongir is famous for its Beetle Leaves, Pottery and textiles.
Talking about the fort, it has a unique egg-shaped construction with heavy rocks covering the two entry points where the soldiers were always ready to attack when enemy invades. A moat encircles the fort and the palace itself has a huge underground chamber, an armoury, stables, and trap doors, among others. These all can be viewed until today which grasps the visitor attention. The old steps from bottom to top of the hill are not damaged and can have thrilling experience by climbing this hill and even can have excellent view of the surrounding areas from top of the hill. There is Hanuman Temple as well as ponds on the hill. There is a talk from past that it has an underground way to the Golconda Fort which is not proved until now.
Bhongir Fort was attacked by many kings but they were unable to claim the fort, but it was finally conquered by the Bahmani Sultans in 15th century with the help of gunpowder, cannons. They modified the fort into Islamic style and were hosted by local governor and made a prison for Qutub Shahi throne pretenders. As the ages are passing the fort just lost its significance and got damaged which was not renovated since 18th century and is still in the same manner until now.

Timings of Bhongir Fort

Timings: 9:00 a.m. -5:00p.m.

Sanghi Temple-Lord Venkateswara Temple Andhra Pradesh,India

Sanghi Temple

• Destination: Hyderabad

The prime deity at the Sanghi temple is Lord Venkateswara, 9-½ feet tall. The doors of the main entrance of the temple complex are large, beautifully structured and welcomes every visitor from a huge Maha Dwaram. As we move further there will be long steps leading to the entrance of the temple. The architecture of the temple is of Chola-Chalukya style and all Hindu Gods are establishished here. The temple was constructed in the year 1991 on a hillock called as Paramanand Giri and is 25 kilometres away from Hyderabad.
When we look from bottom of the hill, the three Gopurams look as they are towering into the blue sky. Before moving into the temple we can see Lord Anjaneya, son of wind God and people say that, he shows way to the home of Gods for the devotees. Lord Anjaneya, who is red-faced, is a feeling of death for the demons, when we think of his name.

Small Temples of other Gods

We can see small temples in the complex dedicated to Padmavati, Shiva, Rama, Anjaneya, Ganesha, Navagrahas, Goddess Ashtalakshimi, Durga and Kartikeya. Pavitra Vanam or a holy garden is also present in the temple complex where we can see special leaves and flowers are grown for performing rituals to the Gods in the temple. There is Kalyana Mandapam in the complex where marriages and other auspicious ceremonies are celebrated. Every day different rituals are performed for the Gods whereas some special rituals are performed during festivals.

Flower For Gods

‘Pavitra Vanam’ or “Holy Garden” is a place where we can find the exotic flowers for the Gods. There are different flowers and special leaves for every god for performing rituals.

Timings of the Temple

Opens early in the morning at 5.00 am.
From 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. -Suprabhatam
From 6 am to 8 am. – Archana
From 8.30 am to 10.30 am and 4 pm to 6 pm. – General Darshan
Between 6 pm and 8 pm. – Poojas and Sevas
Between 12 pm and 4 pm and after 8 pm – Temple remains closed.
Between 8 am and 9 am- Weekly Abhishekam
Sri Ramalingeshwara (Mondays), Sri Hanuman (Tuesdays), Sri Venkateshwara, Ashtalakshmi, Parvathi, Padmavathi and Rama (Fridays).

Festivals in the temple

Festivals like Sivaratri, Sri Rama Navami, Krishnashtami, Vinayaka Chaturthi, Dussera, Hanuman Jayanthi and Brahmotsavams are performed with religious fervor and gaiety. It is one of the popular tourist spots in Hyderabad.