Antharvedi - East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh

Crew : Me and Rajasekhar
Dated : 23rd Oct, 2017

The plan to the Antharvedi bought by childhood friend on his bike. The ride starts on his new bike. It is closely 65-70 km from my town(Akividu) and we reached in about 2.30 hours.

Antharvedi - Lakshmi Narasimha Temple
Timings : --
Ticket Fare : Garbha Gudi darshanam - INR 25
How to Reach: Buses available from nearby towns. We can reach Narasapuram Streamer Road and then cross the Godavari River by boat(Panti available - INR 10 per head, bike - INR 10).
Nearest Place : Sakhinetipalli
Best time to Visit: Anytime.
Duration: 1-2 hours(temple only)
Highlights: Nitya A
nnadanam happens everyday, Near to Beach, Anna Chellilu Gattu(Where Godavari meets Bay of Bengal), Vasishta Devalayam.

Sthalapuranam:

Also known as "Dakshina Kashi (Kashi of the South), Antarvedi, is an important pilgrim centre in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh state in India, situated at the interior part at East coast. Lord Brahma, in order to get freed from the sins he had committed against Lord Sankara, had performed Rudrayaga and installed Lord Neela kantheswara there. As that place was made a stage or "Vedik" to perform the Yagam, it was named as "ANTARVEDI" It is a small village in Sakhinetipalle Mandal which is located close to Narsapur near the Bay of Bengal Coast and Vashishtha River. This river is said to have been brought by Maharishi Vashishtha, one of the Sapthrishis(seven great sages) of Hindu Mythology. It draws people from far off places throughout the year because of its unique rarity: the confluence or mergence of Bay of Bengal and Vashishtha River, a tributary of River Godavari. The place of confluence where the mighty ocean Bay of Bengal meets the Vashishtha River is called the "Sapta Sagara Sangam Pradesam" and also as "Anna Chelli Gattu". It is popularly believed that the Tretha Yugam episode of Ksheera Sagara Mathanam took place here.

The temple is called as an island temple because of its confluence. This temple is among the rarities as the main Deity i.e. Lord Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy(one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu) who faces towards West instead of East (usual direction of other temples in India) constructed between the 15th and 16th centuries. This is 32 kshetra of 108 Narashima kshetrams. It is a temple of 5 storeyed Vimana Gopuram.