TALLAPAKA – BIRTH PLACE OF ANNAMACHARYA

Tallapaka (Telugu : తాళ్ళపాక) is a village in Rajampet mandal of Kadapa district. The village has the distinction of being the birthplace of Saint Annamacharya the famous composer of devotional songs on Lord Venkateswara who made invaluable contribution to music and literature during the 15th century.He composed more than Thirty two thousand devotional hymns – Sankeerthanas.  These keerthanas were set to Carnotic style of music and are very popular throughout India.

Annamacharya’s Wife Timmakka is the first poetess in Telugu literature.  She composed ‘Subhadra kalyanam’.  The sons and grand children of Annamacharya were all born poets who continued their writings in the footsteps of Annamacharya.  Kadapa district’s name is glorified by the efforts of ‘Tallapaka Poets’.

Dhyana Mandiram was constructed in memory of great Saint Annamacharya, at Tallapaka. The Chennakesavaswamy temple is located near the Annamacharya temple in Tallapaka. There are many temples located within the premises of the Chennakesavaswamy temple itself. A unique temple with in this temple premise is that of the Sudarashanachakra containing the idol of the Sudarashanachakra of Lord Vishnu as well as that of Lord Santanagopalakrishna together. The temple is the only one of its kind in South India. Another temple is that of Lord Hanuman, the loyal devotee of Lord Rama. The rare temple of Lord Garuthmantha also located in the premises of the Chennakesavaswamy temple.

The Siddheswara swamy temple with Lord Siva as its presiding deity is also located in Tallapaka, in Kadapa district. The sidewall of the temple has a hole through which sunrays enter during the month of Karthik, a holy time in November when married women pray for the long life of their husbands and give offerings to the Lord. Unlike the usual temples where Lord Nandiswara is found facing Lord Shiva, here it is found outside the temple. Goddess Kamakshidevi is the consort of Lord Shiva here. Another idol that can be found in the Siddheswara swamy temple is that of Veerabhadra Swamy who is said to be the destroyer of Dakshayagnam, namely, Daksha Prajapathi, the father of Goddess Parvati.

Story of Dakshudu

The story goes that Dakshudu was holding a function and did not invite Lord Siva and wife Goddess Parvati. Goddess Parvati however insisted on going for the function though her husband was not very happy with it. At the function she was badly humiliated and came back home very upset. This made Lord Shiva furious and he was filled with rage and thus emerged as Lord Veerabhadra Swamy who destroyed the king Dakshudu in the Siddheswara swamy temple premises is the statue of Ekathathayya who is a great devotee.

HOW TO REACH TALLAPAKA:

By Road:

Tallpaka is located 58.8 KM from Kadapa , 91 KM from Tirupati and 4 KM from Rajampeta. It is well connected by road from all these places.

By Train:

Tallapaka is well connected by railways.

Nearest Railway Stations : Rajampeta(4KM), Kadapa(60 KM), Renigunta(83 KM)

By Air:

Nearest Airports are Kadapa (58.8 KM), Tirupati (91 KM), Chennai (205.73 KM), Bangalore (291 Km), Hyderabad (472 KM).