PIN 532 404 | Time zone IST (UTC+5:30) Elevation 17 m | |
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Weather 28°C, Wind SW at 11 km/h, 85% Humidity | ||
Sri Kurmam is a village near Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located approximately 13 km east of Srikakulam town near the sea. It is in the Gara mandal of Srikakulam district.
Contents
Transport:
Rail: Nearest railway station Srikakulam Road( Amadalavalasa) after getting down at station buses are available to srikurmam frequency 20 minutes, journey time 1 hour 10 minutes.
Road: Nearest bus station Srikakulam. Every 20 minutes one bus will departures to Srikurmam.
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.
The temple
According to inscriptions in the temple dated 1281 AD, the holy place of Kürmakshetra was reestablished by Sri Ramanujacharya under the influence of Jagannatha Deva at Jagannatha Puri. Later the temple came under the jurisdiction of the king of Vijayanagara. The temple is dedicated to Sri Kurmanatha, the second avatar of Lord Vishnu, Kurma Avatar. There is another temple of Kurmanatha in Kurmai of Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh,India. There is also a Yoganandha Narasimhan temple in front of Sri Kurmam temple. Simhachalam Devasthanam took the responsibility for the temple improvement. The moolasthanam (central piece) is considered to be large saligrama.
During Kritha Yuga, a pious king named Swetha Maharaj observed severe penance for many years. Pleased with his penance, Mahavishnu appeared as Kurmanatha Swamy or Vishnu in the Form of Tortoise. Brahma Deva himself took charge of the rituals and consecrated the Temple with Gopala Yantra. Swetha Pushkarini-The Lake in front of the Temple was formed by Sudarshana Chakra.Mahalakshmi emanated from this lake in Garuda Vahana in Varada Mudra posture as Kurma Nayaki.
