Koulutla Chenna Kesava Temple is located in a reserved forest of Kappatralla, 50 km from district

Kurnool District Kurnool district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the North western part of the state and is bounded by Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana in the north, Rai ...

headquarters. The great Vijayanagara King, Sri

Krishna Deva Raya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the ...

, constructed a temple complex for the deity. Along with Koulutla Chena Kesava Temple there are additional Shiva temples in this shrine. * Mallikarjuna Swamy, Bramarambika and Vijaya Vinayaka Temple * Lord Dakshinamurthy Temple * Lord Viswanatha Temple

History

King Parikshith (the grandson, of

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...

) ruled over

Hastinapura Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain text ...

after Pandavas retired to Kailasa. One day, Parikshith was thirsty while on a hunting trip to the forest. He found a saint in deep meditation. He asked for water and the Rishi (saint) did not reply. Parikshith got frustrated and played a prank by putting a dead snake around the neck of the Rishi. He was cursed by the Rishi that he would die of a snake bite within a week; he died consequently at the hands of the Naga prince Takshaka. Koulutla Chenna Kesava Temple front View

Koulutla Chenna Kesava Temple front View

When

Janamejaya Janamejaya ( sa, जनमेजय) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period. Along with his father and predecessor Parikshit, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic hymns ...

(the son of Parikshith) became the King, he wanted to avenge the death of his father and performed Sarpa Yaga (serpent penance). Things then took a fateful turn. Astika, who was born of a man and a Naga woman, came to the snake sacrifice and, seeing what was happening, explained to Janamejaya that Takshaka was safe under Indra's protection. Janamejaya was extremely pleased to have gotten this valuable information and granted Astika a wish. Astika asked to stop the snake sacrifice, instead of asking for gold or silver. Then Saint Vasista asked Janamejaya to perform consecration (Prathista) of Vishnava temples to redeem the sins of killing innocent snakes during Sarpa Yaga. Consequently, a Chennakesava idol was consecrated in Koundinya Asrama to perform regular pujas. After many years, the idol was covered by an anthill (putta). In the 11th century A.D., Golla Koulutla observed that his cow was letting her milk flow to the anthill (putta). That night, Lord Chennakesava (Vishnu) appeared in his dream and told him to remove the anthill and re-consecrate his idol. Koulutla dutifully followed the instructions and from then on the deity was known as Koulutla Chennakesava Swamy.

Photo gallery

Image:kesavaPL.jpg, Chenaa Kesava Image:Vutasava_idol_chennakesava.jpg, Vutsava Idols

References

* Vijayanagara King *

Sources

Kesava website
{{Hindu Temples in Andhra Pradesh Hindu temples in Kurnool district Abhimana temples of Vishnu