Ganagapur Lord Venkateshwara temple is located in Gangapur village, Rebbena Mandal, Komaram Bheem Asifabad district in Telangana State. This temple was built in the 16th century by a Vishwa Brahmin Mummadi Pothaji and a large number of devotees came from different regions of the country including Chattisgarh, Telangana, and Ganagapur Jatra held on Magha Pournami on the full moon day every year.
In the cave temple, they have carved the Hindu idols of Vishnu and Vaishnavite Dwarapalakas holding Sanka, Chakra, Gadha, and Padma in their four hands. Also, they have carved Alwars, Surya, and Hanuman, which are been worshiped by devotees.
Even there are other small caves with carved idols of the gods. Above the cave, there is a pyramidal shikhara that has been constructed, which is a key feature of this temple and shows the significance of the idols here that are situated inside the cave.
The location of this temple inside caves highlights the importance of this temple for centuries with the carved arches and other important elements has to evidence of the legacy of historic dynasties that had once ruled by the Asifabad region of Telangana.
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Ganagapur Temple History:
This is the famous Balaji temple which is one of the major pilgrim centers of this district and it is said that it has been built on the picturesque banks of a river and the outskirts of Gangapur in the 13th century. Situated 5 kilometers away from the Mandal, devotees visit the temple for worshiping the deity on the full moon day of the month of Magha according to the Hindu calendar year.
According to legends, Mummadi Pothaji, a devotee of Lord Venkateswara Swamy used to visit Tirumala every year and offer prayers. And on one day, Pothaji could not able to visit the temple owing to an ailment and old age, depressed due to the inability to go to the temple. Then Lord Balaji appeared in Pothaji’s dream and told him that he could be spotted inside the hill if he drills it. Then Pothaji started drilling in one part of the rock on the hill using a crowbar and after some time he found an idol of the lord. He started worshiping the idol and performing special prayers on the full moon day of every month of Magha.
Later on, the rulers of the Kakatiya dynasty visited the temple and installed an idol of the goddess Padmavati and built a holy pond in front of the temple in the 16th century. Unfortunately, the pond vanished centuries ago. But that crowbar that was bused by the Pothaji to drill the hill still can be seen at the top of the shrine.
Travel Options: How to Reach the Temple
There are mainly 3 ways to reach the temple.
- By air- you can directly fly to the nearest location to reach the temple. The nearest airport is Hyderabad and Nagpur.
- By train- you can reach the temple by using a train as the nearest railway station to the temple is Asifabad Road-ASAF Sirpur Kagaznagar-SKZR.
- By road- They are many buses from Hyderabad MGBS station to Asifabad to reach Rebbena Mandal. From there you can take many share Autos to reach the temple.
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