Thread by @VAdkri

SRI RADHA GOVINDA SWAMY TEMPLE
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ଶ୍ରୀ ରାଧାଗୋବିନ୍ଦ ଦେଉଳ
రాధా గోవిందా ఆలయం, శ్రీకాకుళం
~ Brief History of the Temple ~
Sri Radhagovinda Temple, an Architectural masterpiece , is situated in the village Meliaputti in Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh
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It is constructed by Maharani Krushnapriya Pattamahadevi, wife of Sri Veera Veerendra Pratap Rudra Gajapati of Paralakhemundi Estate during 1790, in an acre of land ,on the banks of River Mahendratanaya.
*The cost of Construction was about Rs 2 lakhs in those days.
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spent from her Stridhana bhandara.

*it was completed in 10 years as per her dreams and ambitions.

*It is just about 10 kilo Metres from Paralakhemundi(odisha), 20km from Tekkali and 32 km.from Palasa Railway Station of srikakulam.
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After odisha province formation in (1936) to 1954 it was under estate rule of khemundi royals.
The Andhra Pradesh Government had taken over the Estate on 25-03-1954 under the Estate abolition Act, 1948.
*This Temple
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was not taken over by the Government as it was their personal and private property,declared by the Commissioners of Hindu Religious Endowments Board,Madras.
vide their proceedings No617/A in OANo291/1928 Dt 1.11.1928
This was prior to the independence of some parts in odisha
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and the state of present Andhra Predesh from the combined structure in the composite state of Madras.
*This Temple is a contemporary Temple of those temples at puri and Bhubaneswar in the Eastern Part of India.
* A pure Kalinga Architectural Shrine.
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Its sculptural glory is not known to many outside people.

* It is one of the most beautiful Temples in Srikakulam district, A.P. *This Temple was built in a pucca Odisha shilpakala structure.
*The beautiful carvings on the temple walls are supposed to convey
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the message of the four Vedas.
*The dome is decorated with 108 lotus flowers, and each flower has its own unique shape.
*The four side of the natapamandira and Jagamohana have beautiful carvings of Bhagabata katha and Vishnu purana.
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Here the most beautiful festival is Dola Jatra.
The Dolo festival of Sri Radhagovinda swamy will be held in the month of March every year for about 9 days.
* It starts with the procession of the Deities in the village streets and later on brought to the Dola Mandapa
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A place where Holika Dahana programme is performed.
Locally it's known as Magha podi or Rajagni utsava.
Thousands of devotees used to visit the Temple during the festival days to fulfill their ambitions, by having Darshan of the Deity in the Temple.
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Earlier the temple was restricted to devotees from other estate.
As it was known for Rani basa deula (rajmata,Rani(Queens) own temple
*Sri Krushna chandra Gajapati Narayan Deb,Maharajah of Parala & the first prime Minister of Odisha,have allowed the public for their entrance
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in the temple after 1956 only on limited timings by undertaking a written commitment from the village elders for preventing untoward incidents, during procession of the Deities in the Village.
*Initially there were 50 sevayatas(priests) for daily archana of Lord , but now
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But now it's running by one one priest.
*Carvings on the outer wall of the temple depict stories and tales of various incarnations of Lord Krishna with erotica like konark.
* For this reason uttaraandhra people calls it "khajuraho of Andhra".
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Now the temple is in horrible condition.the locals painted the beautiful stone shrine with cheap colour paint.
Nighter Andhra nor odisha tourism or culture dep. is interested to takeover such ancient shrine.
It is the sad reality
#threadend
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