Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Bhadrachalam

భద్రాచలం శ్రీ సీతారామచంద్ర స్వామి ఆలయం

Sita Ramachandra Swamy · with Sita

Bhadrachalam, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Telangana · Vaishnava tradition

The temple is dedicated to Rama, and the devasthanam celebrates Sri Rama Navami on a grand scale as the wedding anniversary of Rama and Sita.

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Getting there
Train: Bhadrachalam Road station, KothagudemAir: Rajahmundry or Vijayawada airport

Not yet confirmed: darshan hours, dress code, phone rules, entry for visitors of other faiths, walking distance. Ask at the temple office or enquiry counter — and if you know, tell us. hello@aalayakatha.com

Full visiting details

Sthala purana

The story of this place

2 accounts are recorded. Each is told separately, in the words of its own tradition — they are never merged.

Told in: Devotional tradition around Bhakta Ramadasu (Kancherla Gopanna)

Gopanna's debt

Kancherla Gopanna serves as a revenue official in the Bhadrachalam area under the Qutb Shahi kingdom of Golconda. He uses the revenue he has collected to build the temple to Rama. For this he is called to account and imprisoned at Golconda.

In the devotional tradition, two young men come to the king, Abul Hasan Tana Shah, pay the whole sum and leave; they are understood to have been Rama and Lakshmana. Gopanna is released and returns to Bhadrachalam.

Whether the imprisonment and release have any documentary basis is a question for historians of Golconda; we have not yet read their work on it.

Where this account comes from

We have not yet found a text we can cite for this account. It is told here as it is told locally, and marked unverified.

Told in: Local temple tradition

Bhadra's hill

Temple tradition names the hill after the sage Bhadra, whose penance Rama answered by settling on it, and credits a local woman, Pokala Dammakka, with finding the images and first worshipping them before Gopanna built the temple.

Read this account

We have not yet found a written source for this account; it is told here as it is told locally.

In local tradition the hill is Bhadra, a sage who did penance for Rama and became the hill on which Rama would stay — hence Bhadragiri or Bhadradri, and the town's name. Long afterwards a local woman, Pokala Dammakka, finds the images in the forest, cares for them and worships them in a simple shrine. Gopanna's temple is built on that worship.

Where this account comes from

We have not yet found a text we can cite for this account. It is told here as it is told locally, and marked unverified.

In one minute

Why Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Bhadrachalam matters

Each line says who it comes from and how settled it is. What the labels mean

  1. The temple is dedicated to Rama, and the devasthanam celebrates Sri Rama Navami on a grand scale as the wedding anniversary of Rama and Sita.

    Source for: The temple is dedicated to Rama, and the devasthanam celebrates Sri Rama Navami

  2. It is tied to Kancherla Gopanna, remembered as Bhakta Ramadasu, a 17th-century Telugu devotional poet whose songs to the Rama of Bhadrachalam are still sung.

  3. The temple stands on the bank of the Godavari, on a hill that tradition identifies with the sage Bhadra.

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Architectural style not yet identified

No published architectural study of this temple has been found yet.

We have not yet sourced a description of the building — what to look for and where to stand. Until we can cite one, this stays empty rather than guessed.

Yatra

Plan your visit

Darshan times

We could not confirm the opening times from the temple’s own notice, so we are not printing any. Please check with the temple office or the devasthanam before you travel.

Before you go

  • No dress code or entry rules have been confirmed for this temple yet. Traditional, modest clothing is always the safe choice; ask at the entrance.

Walking, steps and access

We have not yet confirmed how much walking or climbing is involved, or whether there is wheelchair access. If you are travelling with elders, ask at the temple office or the devasthanam enquiry counter before you set out.

Getting there

  • By train: Bhadrachalam Road station, KothagudemNearest railhead; not yet confirmed by an official source, so check locally.
  • By road: KhammamNearest road hub; not yet confirmed by an official source, so check locally.
  • By air: Rajahmundry or Vijayawada airportNot yet confirmed by an official source, so check locally.

Routes are general guidance and not yet checked against an official source.

PIN 507111 (not yet checked with India Post)

The order of darshan

No published source gives the order in which to visit the shrines here, so we have not invented one. Follow the queue and the temple staff.

Festivals

  • Sri Rama Navami — Sita Rama Kalyanam

    Mar–Apr · Chaitra, Shukla paksha, Navami

    Celebrated on a grand scale by the devasthanam on Rama Navami, as the wedding anniversary of Rama and Sita.

  • Teppotsavam on the Godavari

    Dec–Jan

    The deities taken out on a float on the Godavari around Vaikuntha Ekadasi.

Customs you will see here

Itihasa

Through time

Two registers, kept apart on purpose: what the Puranas tell, and what the historical record shows. They answer different questions and we do not force them to agree.

In the Puranas and tradition

  1. Rama settles on Bhadra's hill

    Local tradition of the sage Bhadra's penance. We have not yet found a written source for it.

In the historical record

  1. Kancherla Gopanna builds the temple

    Gopanna, a Qutb Shahi revenue official, builds the temple in the 17th century. We have not yet found a source for the year, or for the story of his imprisonment.

Around here

Worth the detour

  • Temple

    Parnasala

    The site associated in tradition with Rama and Sita's forest hermitage, downstream on the Godavari.

  • Ghat

    Godavari bathing ghats, Bhadrachalam

    The river bank below the temple.

Sources

Where this page comes from

Cite this page

Aalaya Katha Foundation, “Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Bhadrachalam”, Aalaya Katha, version last reviewed 2026-10-09. https://www.aalayakatha.com/temple/bhadrachalam-sita-ramachandra (accessed ).

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How we label sources and confidence