Gollala Mamidada Temple
Published earlier at https://worldoftemples.com/gollalla-mamidada-temple/
One famous Rama temple in Andhra Pradesh is Kodandarama Temple in Gollala Mamidada, East Godavari dt located near to Kakinada, on banks of Tulyabhaga River, known for it’s very tall gopurams, also called Chinna Bhadradri.
The temple was constructed by two brothers Dwarampudi Subbi Reddy and Rami Reddy in 1889, who donated the land, and built a small temple with wooden deities of Rama and Sita. The larger temple was built in 1939, and the two large gopurams in 1948 and 1956.
The east facing gopuram is around 160-170 feet high, has 9 storeys and 5 kalasams, while the gopuram facing west is around 200-210 feet high, with 11 storeys and 5 kalasams. There is a mirror hall, built between the 2 mandapams just above the garbagriha in 1975. This has a stucco relief of Sri Rama Pattabhishekam, along with Shree Rama blessing Hanuman on the other side.
There are also many sculptures in the temple depicting scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharat and Bhagavatam, on all the 4 sides of the gopurams, while the temple Sikhara contains sculptures from Bala Ramayanam.
The Garbhalayam has Rama, Sita and Lakshmana along with Hanuman. One can climb to the top of the gopurams, through 300 stairs, to get a good view of the countryside.
There is also a Pushkarni near the temple, with water sourced from the Tulyabhaga River. The temple surrounded by lush green paddy fields, coconut groves is worth a visit.
Sri Rama Navami is grandly celebrated in the temple, that features the Sita Rama Kalyanam. The District collector along with the local MLA, offer the pattu vastrams(silk clothes) on this occasion. Vaikunta Ekadasi and Vijayadasami too are grandly celebrated here.
Another temple in Gollala Mamidada is the Suryanarayana Temple, dedicated to Surya, though not as prominent as Arasavalli Surya temple, this is equally worth a visit. The architecture is similiar to that of Kodanda Rama temple.
The Suryanarayana Temple at Gollala Mamidala was built in 1920 by Kovvuri Basivi Reddy Garu, the zamindar of the village, known for his philanthropic and charitable works. He donated around 16 acres of wet land for the temple. Daily archanas are performed to Sri Suryanarayana Swamy here. The rituals here are performed as per Vaishnava Sampradaya. There is also a small temple for Siddhi Vinayaka which many visit to get their wishes fulfilled.
With it’s temples, lush green surroundings, Gollala Mamidada also called as Gopurala Mamidada is visited by many devotees primarily in Godavari districts. It is also called as Konaseema Ayodhya and Chinna Bhadradri. Gollala Mamidada can be reached from Kakinada, Rajahmundry and Vizag by road. However there are no guest homes here to stay, as the tradition here is to worship and leave immediately. Pilgrims however have good amenities.