Ardhagiri

Ardhagiri
Ardhagiri Location in Andhra Pradesh
Name
Proper name	Sri Veeranjaneya Swamy Temple
Geography
Coordinates	13°17′41″N 78°57′05″E / 13.294831°N 78.951316°E / 13.294831; 78.951316Coordinates: 13°17′41″N 78°57′05″E / 13.294831°N 78.951316°E / 13.294831; 78.951316
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District	Chittoor
Location	Aragonda Village
Culture
Primary deity	Lord Hanuman
History and governance
Date built	12th century by Pallava Nolamba kings

Ardhagiri Sri Veeranjaneya Swamy Temple is located one and a half km. up of the hill in Aragonda village, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, 15 km away from Kanipakam.

Etymology

The name Ardhagiri came from a myth related to Tretayuga, when Lord Hanuman was transporting Sanjeevani Mountain (mountain that consists of herbs for life), half of the mounatain fell down at this place and hence, the name Ardhagiri. In the local language, it means Half Mountain (Ardhra=half, giri=mountain).^[1]

History

According to legend, during Tretayug, Hanuman brought Sanjeev Parvatham in order to save Lakshman during a war when Lakshman fell unconscious. During the journey, half of Sanjeev Parvatham fell, and the place where it landed came is known as Aragonda. Aragonda, initially is called as Arakonda (In Telugu language, "Ara" (sounds A'raw)means 'Half' and "Konda" (sounds Kon'Da) means Hill or Mountain). With the time, the people changed their way of pronouncing this word "Arakonda" as "Aragonda" which is now the name of the village under this hill. This hill is famous with name "Ardhagiri" (Ardha means Half and Ge'ree means mountain). In Ardhagiri, it is believed that Sanjeevaraya Pushkarini (pond containing the holy water) never gets dried nor spoiled, even when kept for long periods of time. When devotees drink this theerham (or holy water) from the Sanjeevaraya Pushkarini, all types of diseases are getting cured.

Mr. Aragonda Ashok Reddy, Chairman of the above Ardhagiri Shree Veeranganeya Swamy Temple, is managing in further development and improvement of this ancient temple

Everyday, about 3-5 thousand devotees visit the temple and every month on the Pournami day, about 30,000 devotees come to the temple and stay there overnight.

References

External links

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