Rayachoti
Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh has a municipality called Rayachoti. Rayachoti is most famous for Sree Veerabhadra Swamy temple. As such the town is very small but draws a lot of people due to the presence of this temple. During the Vijayanagar age, King Krishnadevaraya used to camp at Rayachoti during his visits to the Srivari temple at Tirupati.The river that flows through Rayachoti is Mandavya River and is named after the Rishi Mandavya.
Population
Rayachoti has a population of 1, 73,266 as per the 2011 census. Out of this total population, 18% is under the age of 6 years. The population of males is 50.9% and that of females is 49.1%. Rayachoti has an average literacy rate of 61.6%, of which the male literacy rate is 73%, and female literacy rate is 51%.
Places to See
Sree Veerabhadra Swamy temple is a major tourist attraction in Rayachoti. Legend states that Daksha, the father of Sati had organized a major yagna and invited all the Gods and distinguished personalities to this yagna apart from Lord Shiva, Sati’s husband. Sati, engulfed by anger at this humiliation of her husband, went to the yagna and sacrificed herself in the yagna fire. Lord Shiva, after hearing of Sati’s death, became enraged and uprooted a lock of his hair and from this was born Lord Veerbhadra. Lord Shiva asked Lord Veerbhadra to destroy Daksha and his yagna and Lord Veerbhadra executed Lord Shiva’s orders.
How Sree Veerbhadra Swamy’s temple came to be at Rayachoti is another interesting legend. Rishi Mandavya did penance for many years at Rayachoti to seek Sree Veerbhadra’s darshan. Finally the Lord appeared and Rishi Mandavya requested him to stay in the place of his penance.
Karthik Poornima and Shivratri are celebrated in a grand manner at the Sree Veerbhadra Swamy temple. Thousands of devotees from across the state and even Karnataka visit the temple during these festivals.
A miracle that is famous about the temple is the way the sun rays fall on Lord Veerbhadra’s statue during 5 days in March. On the first day, the rays fall at his feet, and then the rays keep moving upward till they finally reach his face on the 5th day. Thousands of devotees also throng to the temple to view this miracle with their own eyes.
Rayachoti has one of the biggest Jamia Mosques in Kadapa district and is famous for that as well.
How to Reach
By Road
Rayachoti is 180 km from Bangalore and it takes 5 hours to reach it from Bangalore. Within Andhra Pradesh, there are regular buses by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) that ply to Rayachoti from Kadapa, Tirupathi and Hyderabad.
By Train
The nearest station to Rayachoti is Kadapa at 50 km. You can then take an APSRTC bus to Rayachoti. Other stations close to Rayachoti are Tirupathi-110 km, Bangalore – 180 km and Chennai-260 km.
By Air
The nearest Airport to Rayachoti is Kadapa-50 km, followed by Tirupathi at 120 km, Bangalore at 180 km and Chennai at 265 km.