Antarvedi

                   
Antarvedi

Antarvedi is a village in the Sakhinetipalle mandal, or tehsil, located in the East Godavari district of the Andhra Pradesh state in India. The village is situated at the place where the Bay of Bengal and Vashista Godavari, a tributary of the Godavari River, meet.

Antarvedi was named in honor of the Lord as "Narasimhakshetra".

Description

Antarvedi, in terms of geographical surface area, covers about 4 square miles (6.4km). The village contains the widely revered Lord Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple, located opposite Vasishta Godavari, and it is said that Antarvedi is "the second Varanasi by the grace of the Lord." A launch pad allows visitors to land on the small island at the other side of the Godavari River - from this point, travel can then be undertaken to the convergence point of the river and the ocean.

History

Antarvedi is famous for the Laxmi Narasimha Swamy temple constructed between the 15th and 16th centuries. There is also a temple of Lord Siva that is older than Narasimha Swamy temple. The temple's idol of Lord Siva was installed by Lord Srirama.

In the 18th century, Peddapuram Rajas were the trustees and were responsible for developing the temple. Mogaltur Raja's are the traditional trustees of Antarvedi Temple, with this duty beginning in the 19th century. Late Shri Raja Kalidindi Kumar Ramachandra Raja Bahaduralso contributed a lot to the temple. He was the former chairman of temple development and the hierarchical trustee of temple.

The lord and temple was gifted along with many priceless jewels from past kings, nobles and even the East India Company. These jewels have been stored in a vault at the treasury department for the last 50 – 60 years. Through the great efforts and contributions of local M.L.A. Sri Alluri Krishnam Raju and the temple authorities, the age old jewelry of the god is being brought to Antarvedi and the idols of the Lord are being decorated during the Kalyanotsavam.

Geography

Antarvedi is located at 16.3333°N 81.7333°E, and is close to being at sea level. According to Dr.Trinadharaju Rudraraju, layout of the temple complex has great significance with the geometry of the delta itself and more to be studied in terms of current and force of the confluence at the location.

Religious Fair

Antarvedi temple

The area's religious fair is held on Bheeshma Ekadasi, which is generally in January or February. It attracts thousands of people to this usually sleepy village located at the confluence of River Godavari with Bay of Bengal. Lord Narasimha Swamy's Kalyanam is performed on Dasami and Rath yatra was performed on 'Ekadasi day'.The royal Polamuru Sree Raja Kalidindi family descendants have rights to submit talmbarlu beeiam and other marriage items. The royal Mogaltur Sree raja Kalidindi family male descendants are the first people to pull the rope of rath, and then it is pulled by the devotees.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees attend this festival starting on Dasami and continuing until the full moon day. Thousands of devotees thronged the Lakshmi Narasimha Swami temple on Thursday night to witness the celestial wedding of the Lord with goddess Lakshmi.

The rituals began with sapata nadi jalabhishekam (abhishekam to Lord Narasimha Swami and goddess Lakshmi with water fetched from seven rivers). All rituals commenced as ordained in Vaikhanasa Agama Sastra. Maha shanthi homam was performed from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Mudrikalankarana is one of the main rituals before the kalyanam. Bellamkonda and Vundavalli families sponsored the ritual.

In keeping with tradition, archakas from Peruru participate in special puja to Koormanatha Swami, whose idol was caught in the nets of fishermen in Raktatulya river during the 14th century.

Roadway and Waterway

There are three ways that one can travel to Antarvedi. Steam launches are run on the River Godavari Vasistha from Narsapur Ferry. Alternatively, one can cross the river at Narsapur riding on the ferry, upon reaching Sakhinetipalli and from there start for Antervedi by road. The third option is to cross the Chinchinada river using the newly built bridge, travelling from Narsapur on the Palakol Road until Digamarru and turn for the bridge, which brings you to the East Godavari District. Then proceed to Antervedi by road.

Malkipuram is approximately of 18 km. There are good lodging facilities available in Malkipuram.

The Dindi resorts are situated near Malkipuram.