Sri Kurmam also known as Srikurmu or Srikurmais a village near Srikakulam,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, India. Srikurmam village is situated at a distance of 14.5 km to the South-east of Srikakulam town. It is in the

Gara ''Gara'' (Basque: ''We Are'') is a bilingual (Basque/Spanish) newspaper published in the city of Donostia-San Sebastián in the Basque Autonomous Community. The newspaper's target market comprises the area of the Basque Country, but its cir ...

mandal of Srikakulam district. The village was named after the Srikurmam temple dedicated to

Kurma Kurma ( sa, कूर्म; , 'Turtle', 'Tortoise'), is the second avatar of the Hindu preserver deity, Vishnu. Originating in Vedic literature such as the Yajurveda as being synonymous with the Saptarishi called Kashyapa, Kurma is most comm ...

avatar of the Hindu god

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

, which was re-established by

Eastern Ganga Dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas were a large medieval era Indian royal dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas ruled much of ...

King

Anantavarman Chodaganga Gangesvara Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva () was an Eastern Ganga monarch who reigned between 1077 CE to 1150 CE. He was the ruler of the Kalinga region from river Ganga to Godavari, and later the early medieval Odisha region with the incorporati ...

Deva.

Geography

Sri Kurmam is located at a latitude of 18° 16' N, a longitude of 84° 1' E and an altitude of 17 meters (59 feet). This location puts the temple about 3 km from the Bay of Bengal.

Sri Kurmam Temple

Sri Kurmam (holy tortoise) is a famous place of pilgrimage and the temple here is unique of its kind in the entire India. The temple is noted for its architectural beauty and contains many inscriptions ranging from the Eleventh Century A.D. to the Nineteenth Century A.D. According to inscriptions in the temple dated 1281 AD, the holy place of Kürmakshetra was re-established by

Ramanujacharya Ramanuja (Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents o ...

under the influence of

Deva of Kalinga.Eastern ganga king Anangabhima Deva built it's pradakshina mandapa.Later the temple came under the jurisdiction of the king of Suryavanshi Gajapatis of orissa. The inscriptions throw light on the dynasties which held sway over this region. The temple is dedicated to Sri Kurmanatha, the second avatar of

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

. Dolotsavam is the important festival and more than 20,000 pilgrims congregate on this occasion.

Pilgrim attractions

* Ancient temple constructed between 9th and 11th Centuries in its pristine form. * The Trinity of Madhukeswara, Someswara and Bheemeswara Temples. * The Vishnu lingam is formed by the trunk of Madhuca tree with a naturally carved face. * Architecture grandeur of red stone sculpture. * Located on the banks of beautiful river Vamsadhara. *There is also a Turtle sanctuary nearby the temple pond

References

{{Hindu Temples in Andhra Pradesh Villages in Srikakulam district Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Uttarandhra