1. Annavaram
2. Anumanchipalle
3. Balusupadu
4. Bandipalem
5. Buchavaram
6. Budawada
7. Chillakallu
8. Gandrai
9. Garikapadu
10. Gowravaram
11. Jaggaiahpeta
12. Jayanthipuram
13. Kowthavari agraharam
14. Malkapuram
15. Mukteswarapuram
16. Pochampalle
17. Ramachandrunipeta
18. Raavikampadu
19. Ravirala
20. Shermahammadpeta
21. Thakkellapadu
22. Tirumalagiri
23. Torraguntapalem
24. Tripuravaram
25. Vedadri
Antiquity of this kshetra dates back to Tretayuga and it is said that Sri Rama visited this thirtha kshetra along with wife Sita. And worshipped this Temple's Spatica Linga installed by Bali Chakravarthy. The other plus point it claims is river Krishna flows in northern direction instead of the usual eastern. Hence sanctity immense. It is believed that sins committed knowingly or unknowingly will be purged of with a single bath. It embodies another unique feature of linking Tretayuga with Kaliyuga. Legends narrate that Viswakarma built a golden temple realising its sacrosanct glory. Krishna Mahatya eulogizes it, with the episode of Bali Chakravarthi's installing crystal linga now worshipped in the Mukteswara temple.
This Bhavani's shrine is quite ancient and was endowed lavishly by the ruling princes. The sthalapurna claims its construction to the devout king Narasimha Padmanabha belonging to Aiteya dynasty. Having enjoyed liberal royal partronage, it is architecturally imposing in dimensions and sculpturally enticing. There are many inscriptions testifying to its splendid past. The Mother's icon is superbly sculptured and her pleasant facial features are quite arresting and so win admiration by every one. The floral decoration interspersed with glittering jewels is enchanting and raises hands in veneration. Satwika puja is offered daily and she is madhuraahra priya. Periodical festivals are celebrated with unbounded zeal.
Sri Tirupatamma Ammavari Devasthanam is located in Penuganchiprolu village of Krishna District. It is 20 Kms. away from Jaggaiahpet.
In India, there is an old saying which corroborates the fact that where women are respected, the Gods feel happy and make their Abodes. In the 17th century, Sri Raja Vasireddy Jagga Bhoopal was ruling Krishna region, with Amaravathi as his Capital. In his kingdom, was born Sri Tirupatamma, in the family of “Kolla”. She married Sri Gopaiah Swamy of “Kakani” family, and brought glory to both families, and the entire region, by her undeterred devotion to the Lord. Sri Tirupatamba was not only a great devotee but also a good housewife, sharing sorrows and joys with her husband. Despite this, she faced severe ill treatment and misery at her husband’s house. Finally, when her husband died she immolated herself in her husband’s funeral pyre.
Sri Tirupatamba is worshipped in the Penuganchiprolu Temple as the image of “Shakti”. She preached virtuous qualities of life to her devotees and made her, Adobe at Penuganchiprolu, Mudiraj Papamamba was her principal devotee and therefore, her family members are ordained to perform poojas and other sevas in the Temple. According to the folklore there were 101 Temples existing in ancient times and therefore, it was deemed as Pedakanchipuram. Muniyeru (a stream) flowing, along the Temple, and was said to be created with the spiritual power of Moudgalya Maharishi and hence it was named after him
Vedadri
The Vedadri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple is located on the river Krishna, approximately 10 kms from Jaggaiahpet. Here the main deity is: Yogananda Lakshmi Narasihma Swamy.
The importance of this place is: Here the Lord is existing in five forms different from each other known as Pancha Narasimha Moorthy, namely Jwala Narasimha on vedasikhara of the mountains, Saligrahma Narasimha in the River Krishnaveni, Yogananda Narasimha erected by sage Rishya Sringar, as Lakshmi Narasimhar on his own peetam and Veera Narasimhar on Garudadri situated at a distance of 5kms from east to Vedadri.
The Brahma Purana says Somasura stole the Vedas from Brahma, and hid himself into the ocean. Lord Brahma approached Lord Vishnu to help him out to get back the Vedas from the asura. Sriman Narayana took the form of fish {Mathsaya Avatara} and entered deep into the ocean and rescued Vedas from asura. The Vedas took human form and thanked Lord Vishnu, and asked Lord to stay with them on their heads. Lord agreed to stay till the time comes and he asked them to stay in River Krishnaveni as Saligrama stone. After Hiranaya kasyapa vadha, Lord Narayanar who incarnated himself as Narasimha Swamy, stayed as Jwala Narasimhar on the mountains head at Vedadri in fulfillment of his words to Veda Purushas. Lord Brahma requested Jwala Narasimha to stay at Sathya loka as Saligrahama, and Lord Narasimhar obliged to do so. Even before Lord Brahma could offer his prayer to Lord, sathya lokha was consumed in flames. Lord brahma personally brought the Saligrahma moorty to the River Krishnaveni and erected it on the Saligrahma mountain. Krishnaveni prayed to Narayanar, to allow her to worship him daily. Here Lord Lakshi Narshimar the incarnation of Sriman Narayanar fulfilled the desire of both veda purusha and river Krishnaveni.
The temple structure is conventional, being brightly colored and ornamented with a variety of images. A beautiful Form of Narasimha Swami in yoga pose (below) greets devotees on the outside of the temple. The Lord is joined by murtis of Lord Varaha, Laksmi devi, Garuda, Hanuman, and other transcendental personalities and figures. The utsava idols are extraordinarily high and impressive, and the Dwajasthamba of imposing girth and height. In the waters of the Krishna River, Lord Narasimhar can also be found in Salagram form.
About 180 years ago, the region surrounding Jaggaiahpeta was governed by a ruler, by name Sri Rajah Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu, who was famous for his piety and devotion and for the construction of many a temples in honour of Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu. It is said that he founded two towns, namely, Jaggaiahpeta, named after his father, and Achampeta, named after his mother. The founding of the towns by Venkatadri Nayudu find mention in a Telugu verse of a certain well-known poet, too.
But from the old records of the Government, we get the information that, even prior to the founding of the towns by Venkatadri Nayudu, there existed on this site a village named Betavolu and that the Rajah developed it into a town and changed the name to Jaggaiahpeta . The region was then infested with robbers and hence the old village was called Dongala Betavolu (Robbers' Betavolu). For some time, Jaggaiahpeta was mentioned in Government records with Betavolu written in brackets. Even now, in some old documents in the houses of some indigenous bankers of the town, we find only ' Betavolu ' mentioned as the name of the village.
All this is recent history and is self-evident. But apart from it, this region has an ancient and splendid history behind it. Though it is so, only a few know that the innocent-looking mound 'Dhanam Bodu', lying east of Jaggaiahpeta, has in it the remains of an ancient stupa, which has been lying there for 2,000 years.
Monuments & Antiquities
Jaggayyapeta StupaDuring the excavations in 1818, a few carved slabs from one of the brick mounds revealed the existence of a group of ancient stupas. After excavation, the stupa was found to be 9 meters in diameter and was decorated with slabs of the same material used in Amaravati. Inside the casing the stupa is made completely out of bricks and earth. About a kilometre from the town is a hill known as Dhanabodu or Hill of wealth on which once stood a great Stupa or Mahachaitya. Around the hillock are traces of monastic buildings.
A Mahachaitya filled with layers of rubble & gravel two feet thick. The slabs surrounding the base of the stupa were plain very few of them having any carving except a small pilaster up the edge. Some of the sculptures on the pilasters closely resemble in style of Bharhut sculptures. The capitals are heavy and roughly bell-shaped and show addorsed double-winged animals like that at Patalkhora. Some of the slabs were inscribed in characters of Mauryan type ascribable to the beginning of the 2nd century BC.
Fourteen sculptures recovered from here (All of them either broken or mere fragments, the only exception being a standing Buddha) and are in the Madras Museum. This standing Buddha is exceptional, not merely because it was found undamaged, but also because it differs both in age and style from the rest of finds. It has an inscription on its lotus base in characters of the sixth century. The gist of the inscription being that the image was made under instructions from Jayaprabhacharya, a disciple of Nagarjunacharya. It is concluded that it belongs to a much later age than the rest of the sculptures which are akin to those of the first face of the Amaravati stupa, and hence are dated as early as 200 B.C.
The most interesting as well as important of the marbles here is a slab representing a Chakravarti. The seven jewels which surround him – the queen, the prince, the minister, the elephant, the horse, the wheel, and the gems – proclaim him to the world as a king of kings. Noteworthy features of this sculpture are not only the square coins that are showered on the emperor from the sky and the jewels worn by the human figures, but also the elongated structure of those figures which constitute a marked departure from the stunted representations of the Gandhara School. It is this elegant attenuation of the figures the subsequently led to the “towering and graceful forms” in the sculptures of the middle phase of Andhra sculpture at Amaravati. Another interesting find in this area is the “punyasala,” a beautiful sculpture showing a two-storied shrine.