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A GLIMPSE IN TO THE PAST:
EXPLORING THE HISTORY OF A
SACRED TEMPLE IN VUYYURU
Vuyyuru is a village in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It
is located on the banks of the river Krishna. The village is known for its rich
cultural heritage & its historical importance. In addition, it is home to several
small-scale industries such as brickmaking & handloom weaving.

There is a sacred temple in vuyyuru named parupudi veeramma talli temple

which carries a great heritage from years…
Every year in the month of ‘magha’ (February) & on the day of
‘maghasuddha Ekadashi’, the ‘vuyyuru veeramma talli’ temple festival gets
started by covering the great importance in this town. The festival lasts for 15
days in February. these were the most awaited days in every year for the people.
All the natives from this town & surrounding places celebrate the feast & pay
a visit to ‘amma’. The main idol of the goddess is available in this temple only
on these 15 days.
The temple has been kept open only on the feast days & the goddess will be
worshipped by receiving the offerings through ritual practises that are passed
down from generation to generation. During this festival, RTC will organise
special busses from Vijayawada bus station as it is the nearest station to the
people come from outside of this town.

To say about the temple’s history, there is another shrine in

vuyyuru dedicated to the same goddess veeramma talli. It is regarded as the
birthplace of mothers. The mother (veeramma talli) leaves her birthplace &
enters the vuyyuru ammavari temple (in-laws place) to stay for 15 days.
The day the goddess leaves her birthplace will
be the recoiling day of the feast. Thousands of women are going to plant
lanterns when talli leaves her native home.
The procession (uregimpu) of veramma talli idol is going to be start on this
day.
On this procession, it is expected that about 1 lakh devotees will flock
to ‘tiru Ganda Deepa' to pay homage to the plants. According to the tradition,
the vuyyuru police will kick off the festivities on this day by displaying yellow
saffron & new clothing. All the women devotees take special privilege to
participate in this event.

The devotees follow the idol around until the mother’s idol reaches vuyyuru
veeramma talli temple with lighted lamps known as ‘gandadeepa’
The cradle festival is held in grand style at vuyyuru koodali on the
evening of the second day of the festival. the thirunallu will be continued to the
remaining days. On the eleventh day the sidhibandi festival is held. Offering are
kept in sidhibandi , a weaving basket called as ‘gampa’ & this basket is carried
by a dalit youth.
This youth should turn around the temple grounds by carrying offerings in
‘gampa’ called as ‘pradakshinas’. The devotees stop thrashing the young man
with bananas at this stage.
The massive offerings of animals & the rides in
the carnival, exhibiting of different items to be
sold all the things make the town itself alive
during the feast.
On the last day, the goddess comes out of the
temple & takes bath in river Krishna at
thotavalluru & return to her in-law’s place. At
this event, the police department offer
turmeric, vermillion & new clothes to the deity prior to the deity setting out of
her in-law’s place. The goddess idol is carried as a procession (uregimpu) to her
birthplace, another temple in vuyyuru that belongs to the same godess. The
moment the veeramma talli reached another temple in vuyyuru will be the end
of the feast. The parupudi veeramma talli temple will be kept closed from this
moment till the veeramma talli feast gets started in next year. This glory
goddess will be worshipped in her birthplace in remaining days of the year.
The goddess veeramma talli feast is going to be celebrated on
every year as a tradition passed down through the generations. It is a very
sacred place conserving the heritage customs & it’s necessary to all the
upcoming generations to know the importance of this glory goddess in order to
celebrate the feast in a grand way by protecting the cultural heritage of this
temple. As thousands of people around Andhra Pradesh & Telangana visit this
feast, it is need to government to make system to control such grand & huge
public gatherings.