GODA AMMA AND HER BANGLES

It is a bit of a bother if you want to go some place where you get some peace with a sense of history. Something about these historical structures that let you take a ride into times of bygone years, of course with some imagination. The peace and dust just settles upon you, along with tall rooted trees, bird call and of course hordes of pigeons.
They look good here, the pigeons, not on my window ledge or near my pots. I keep a separate dish for water for this ever hungry, ever thirsty and ever in hunt for a place to build a nest birds. But they will drink off of the pots and the plates below them. Must be like salad dressing for them. And they eat every bud, evry tender leaf struggling to start a new life.
Now, I am looking for a pea shooter.
But in an ancient structure, these birds seem comfortable, as are parakeets and several other birds, which create a huge racket before settling down. Ancient temples are famous for their overgrowth, for their old trees, for their algae laden ponds and for the ancient fragrance of camphor, burnt over the years for people to worship and wish over.
Any worship place and even if it be abutting the main road, has this undeniable sense of grace and quiet.
And so after all that discussion on pigeons, I went with a few friends to revisit Sri Godha Sametha Mannaru Ranganayaka Swamy temple at Edulabad, off Ghatkesar and not very far from Hyderabad.
But thanks to the Uppal flyover being built, the traffic is abysmal and they have been at this for years now. Meanwhile there is a positively ugly structure at the Uppal crossing, in what is called a walkway. Maybe it will make it easy for pedestrians to cross over.
Not one interesting bajji bandi on the way. The one we found on the inner road had put too much of soda and made it crisp but without any soul.
The temple visit turned  out to be a huge disappointment. We reached around 5.25 pm and there were a couple of people already at the sanctum sanctorum. So, we were clubbed together with them, our gothrams asked and so on. We were given a chopped bit of plaintain as prasadam. Of course we girls were given green glass bangles.
Legend has it that Godamma, as a small girl loved bangles and bought them from a bangle seller without paying for them. It was later found on the Devi's wrists. The bangle seller saw this miracle and is said to have made gold bangles for the idol and she is said to be wearing it till date.
Meanwhile a haze of cement hung around this small temple. Little potlis with people's wishes were covered in dust and cement, even as they hung in an organized manner. If I remember correctly, previously they were tied to a large tree at one corner of the temple. People also offer bangles if their wish is fulfilled.
But now there are no trees. Some old steps led to a watching gallery and we took the steep and narrow to climb up, hoping to see some water, which is always there near an old temple. But other than razor wire fencing and some more steps leading to a huge empty space, there was nothing. Maybe this kind of gallery space can ease crowds.
Having said that, we completed our darshan and stepped out and the sanctum doors were closed at 6 pm. Who does that? That is the time for aarathi, for lighting the lamp and to be with the Gods.
I saw a senior priest around and asked him if he could tell the charming story of Goda Amma to my friends. He snapped at me and said "there is a story but can't you see I am busy. Go away." Considering he was not carrying the cement, I wondered what he was busy with.
Earlier, when I visited in 2017, there used to be excitement in the air, like in all Perumal temples and there was always some prasadam available.
Maramat must be done to ancient temples, for these are old structures, but using cement is criminal. There is so much talk of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility, where they contribute some of their profits for the betterment of society at large) and it makes me wonder why they cannot take up these tasks. Since the state government or for that matter, the Endowments Department, or for that matter the Archeological Society of India (ASI) seem to be blind to the destruction of such valuable pieces of history and culture.
While the gopuram still retains it's structure, luckily for us, a lot of cement is being used to reconstruct.
This temple is the only second temple dedicated to Andalamma after Srivilliputtur and is suitably called Uttara Srivilliputtur. With a very charming story about a young girl fond of bangles, who was actually Andalamma herself.
And if I remember correctly seven generations of the family has been looking after the Sri Godha Sametha Mannaru Ranganayaka Swamy temple. Apparently this ancient temple for Andal was built by their ancestors. It is said that Appalacharya Appana Iyengar built this temple around 600 years ago.
As a recall from my earlier story, "This temple was built much before the Moghuls came to India, Though there is no proof, this is a 13th century temple," says Mr Tiruvadandam Porethi Govindarajulu, the seventh generation of the family.
The Lakshminarayana lake is replenished with water from the Erumela vagu. About 2,000 acres of land are cultivated with the water. And now the lake is way too far from the temple, but a beautiful promenade has been built around it and will be the future socialising point for many villages.
While Andalamma is Swayambhu, Sri Ranganathar Swamy, normally found in a recumbent position, stands here with a limp and with some support for his elbow.
A cute tale has it that Lord Ranganatha, in his eagerness to meet Aandal was rushing his vahana, Garuda, to move faster. Even as they were approaching the place, Lord Ranganatha could not contain himself and jumped off Garuda. Thus he has a limp and must have broken his elbow because he stands with a support.
Like I said these tales carry a charm and a dream, which turned into a temple. But what can one say that in the name of repair work, we will now see a monstrosity in cement.