A distance of 250kms from Hyderabad is a tiny village by name Nemili which means peacock...and is the favorite bird of lord Krishna.
In this village is a very beautiful and old Swayambu temple of Venu Gopala Swamy.
We started our journey on 6th Nov to a place which none of us had visited before - Mom, aunt, her extremely energetic and naughty 3 year old baby girl, Ram and me. The weather was very pleasant and thanks to all the rains we feasted on the greenery right through the journey. Our first milestone was to reach Surpyapet and from here we had to ensure we take the road to Khammam...right through thanks to me insisting we ensured we always asked the helpful people if we were in the right direction.
We stopped for lunch under a huge peepal tree once we got on to the khammam road...we wanted to ensure we have home made food the first day so my dear mom made some yummy tamarind and curd rice.
Khammam is a fairly large town and we had to ensure we don't lose our way...our next milestone was to reach a town by name Wyra which we thought was our final destination...Wyra is a smaller town, 20 kms from khammam...We were all a little tired and excited to reach the temple destination...
On reaching Wyra we asked for help to reach the temple...and we were told that it is a distance of further 25 kms and the temple was located in a village named Nemili. Thanks to these guys they ensured we got on to the road which is much better to drive on compared to another pot holed road...
The ride from here is one of the most beautiful drives i have been to so far...we were driving down a single road just enough for one vehicle and both sides had lush green paddy fields and mango groves...so much greenery has definitely made our eyes much healthier ! And we got glimpses of village life as we passed thru from one village to another...typical little houses with hey roofs, cow and buffaloes in every house, smell of fresh fields with a combination of cow dung !
And finally we reached our destination at 5pm...a very old beautiful temple in the middle of a fairly large property...the front portion was the temple, behind it a huge cow shed with Krishna
s idle in the center, huge trees and the rooms to stay...
History of Venu Gopala Swamy temple -
In 1953, in the village of Nemili, while digging the land, Sri Kadari Venkateshwarulu found the idol of the Lord Sri Venugopala Swamy. The idol was consecrated on June 2nd, 1957. The other sanctums present in the temple are of Sri Andallu and Sri Satyabhama.
There are many miracle experiences of devotees who prayed with devotion at this temple - stories of illness being cured, couples blessed with children and many other such miracles. This temple is also known as Santhana Venu Gopala Swamy Temple.
Architecture of the temple -
The first sight of the temple is its gopuram from a distance which has beautiful idols of various gods and Sri Krishna. The decorated entrance gate in itself is a beautiful depiction of the architecture used.
Other places to visit around Nemili -
While one is staying here u can visit Bhadrachalam which is 100 kms from Nemili and there are 3 more temples in the vicinity of 60 kms - Venkateshwara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy temples.
We had visited Bhadrachalam - the details of which i shall post in another article.
Stay arrangements -
We had to spend 3 nights in the temple, we had decided that in case the rooms are not comfortable we can take a room in the hotel for stay and sleep at the temple....but only after reaching this place did we realise that there is no other option but to stay at the temple provided rooms...The rooms are not a great place though the surroundings and atmosphere was absolutely blissful. Therefore be prepared to stay in a very basic room with absolute basic amenities.
Food -
This was another shock for us :) there are only 3 shacks outside the temple of which only serves lunch and dinner...so again be prepared to live on idlis and basic food. But the best option is to have food at the temple Annadanam which serves really good food but only lunch. Or the next and final option is to drive a distance of 25kms to Wyra which u cant do for dinner as there are no street lights in the night...so its better to have food at Nemili itself
With the limitations of stay and food - the place is definitely worth a visit...
Everyday in the morning and evening we would go for the aarti followed by some yummy prasadam. And one should definitely get the abhishekam done which is performed only on Fridays and Mondays..We woke up at 4am and were at the temple by 5am for the abhishekam...Lord Krishna is bathed with milk, fruits, honey, curd and coconut water followed by Alankaran...its a blessing to see Lord Krishna once the abhishekam is completed.
One is completely cut off from the world - no television or newspapers reach this place. All we did was visit temple twice a day, eat the food available. While ram and me caught up with some books...my mom and her sister were happy yapping and baby sitting the brat...
It was a true holiday at the feet of God and blessed we are to see Lord Krishna among peacocks (yes ! there are peacocks living happy and free in temple premises) and cows...
In this village is a very beautiful and old Swayambu temple of Venu Gopala Swamy.
We started our journey on 6th Nov to a place which none of us had visited before - Mom, aunt, her extremely energetic and naughty 3 year old baby girl, Ram and me. The weather was very pleasant and thanks to all the rains we feasted on the greenery right through the journey. Our first milestone was to reach Surpyapet and from here we had to ensure we take the road to Khammam...right through thanks to me insisting we ensured we always asked the helpful people if we were in the right direction.
We stopped for lunch under a huge peepal tree once we got on to the khammam road...we wanted to ensure we have home made food the first day so my dear mom made some yummy tamarind and curd rice.
Khammam is a fairly large town and we had to ensure we don't lose our way...our next milestone was to reach a town by name Wyra which we thought was our final destination...Wyra is a smaller town, 20 kms from khammam...We were all a little tired and excited to reach the temple destination...
On reaching Wyra we asked for help to reach the temple...and we were told that it is a distance of further 25 kms and the temple was located in a village named Nemili. Thanks to these guys they ensured we got on to the road which is much better to drive on compared to another pot holed road...
The ride from here is one of the most beautiful drives i have been to so far...we were driving down a single road just enough for one vehicle and both sides had lush green paddy fields and mango groves...so much greenery has definitely made our eyes much healthier ! And we got glimpses of village life as we passed thru from one village to another...typical little houses with hey roofs, cow and buffaloes in every house, smell of fresh fields with a combination of cow dung !
And finally we reached our destination at 5pm...a very old beautiful temple in the middle of a fairly large property...the front portion was the temple, behind it a huge cow shed with Krishna
s idle in the center, huge trees and the rooms to stay...
History of Venu Gopala Swamy temple -
In 1953, in the village of Nemili, while digging the land, Sri Kadari Venkateshwarulu found the idol of the Lord Sri Venugopala Swamy. The idol was consecrated on June 2nd, 1957. The other sanctums present in the temple are of Sri Andallu and Sri Satyabhama.
There are many miracle experiences of devotees who prayed with devotion at this temple - stories of illness being cured, couples blessed with children and many other such miracles. This temple is also known as Santhana Venu Gopala Swamy Temple.
Architecture of the temple -
The first sight of the temple is its gopuram from a distance which has beautiful idols of various gods and Sri Krishna. The decorated entrance gate in itself is a beautiful depiction of the architecture used.
Other places to visit around Nemili -
While one is staying here u can visit Bhadrachalam which is 100 kms from Nemili and there are 3 more temples in the vicinity of 60 kms - Venkateshwara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy temples.
We had visited Bhadrachalam - the details of which i shall post in another article.
Stay arrangements -
We had to spend 3 nights in the temple, we had decided that in case the rooms are not comfortable we can take a room in the hotel for stay and sleep at the temple....but only after reaching this place did we realise that there is no other option but to stay at the temple provided rooms...The rooms are not a great place though the surroundings and atmosphere was absolutely blissful. Therefore be prepared to stay in a very basic room with absolute basic amenities.
Food -
This was another shock for us :) there are only 3 shacks outside the temple of which only serves lunch and dinner...so again be prepared to live on idlis and basic food. But the best option is to have food at the temple Annadanam which serves really good food but only lunch. Or the next and final option is to drive a distance of 25kms to Wyra which u cant do for dinner as there are no street lights in the night...so its better to have food at Nemili itself
With the limitations of stay and food - the place is definitely worth a visit...
Everyday in the morning and evening we would go for the aarti followed by some yummy prasadam. And one should definitely get the abhishekam done which is performed only on Fridays and Mondays..We woke up at 4am and were at the temple by 5am for the abhishekam...Lord Krishna is bathed with milk, fruits, honey, curd and coconut water followed by Alankaran...its a blessing to see Lord Krishna once the abhishekam is completed.
One is completely cut off from the world - no television or newspapers reach this place. All we did was visit temple twice a day, eat the food available. While ram and me caught up with some books...my mom and her sister were happy yapping and baby sitting the brat...
It was a true holiday at the feet of God and blessed we are to see Lord Krishna among peacocks (yes ! there are peacocks living happy and free in temple premises) and cows...
