A blog post of my trip to Ponnur over a weekend in September 2021.
About Ponnur
Ponnur in Andra Pradesh, my native where I grew up in my childhood is on the GBC (Guntur -Bapatla – Chirala) Road leading to Bapatla and Chirala, the famous beach destination for people from Hyderabad.
Temples in Ponnur
Ponnur is famous for two major temples – Sakshi Bhavanarayana Swamy and Veeranjaneya temples.
There is also a temple for grama devata, taking care of the prosperity of this town.
Bhavanarayana Swamy Temple
Sakshi Bhavanarayana Swamy Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and built in 11th century AD by King Nalaparaju,
The temple was later renovated by Chola king Kulottunga.
As per legends, the history of the temple dates back to when Kesavaiah and Govindudu use to visit places of pilgrimage.
On one such trip to Kashi, Kesavaiah promised to marry his daughter to Govindudu if he is blessed with a girl child.
Upon Akkalakshmi attaining age of marriage, Govindudu expressed his interest to marry her to which Kesavaiah denied and asked for a proof of his agreement.
Govindudu then went to Kasi and prayed to which bhagvan Narayana pleased accompanied him on his way back.
Bhagvan Narayana asked Govindudu to not turn back after convincing Kesavaiah and starting to return to which Govindudu mistakenly turned and Narayana Swamy manifested in Ponnur.
Hence, the name Sakshi Bhavanarayana Swamy who came as a testament of a promise.
Seeing Sakshi Bhavanarayana swamy, Bhagvan Shiva manifested in Ponnur.
Belief is, Bhagvan Narayana as a part of his journey manifested in Bapatla, Ponnur and Kakinada of Andhra Pradesh as Sakshi Bhavanarayana Swamy.
Temple complex houses Anjaneya Swamy temple and Bhagvan Shiva temple.
The complex hosts a Sanskrit college to promote this wonderful language in the region.
You should visit during the temple fair and Rathothsavam from temple to Akkamma temple (in-laws place) in old Ponnur.
This happens in the month of May every year..
Sri Veeranjaneya Swamy Temple, Ponnur
The temple dates back to 1969 A.D. built by Kota Jaganatha Swamy. The temple is home to one of the tallest Murti of Anjaneya Swamy standing at 24ft, 12 ft wide and built on a single black granite stone having 4ft thickness.
The black granite stone was brought under the surveillance of Bhavanarayana Swamy from Edlapadu.
A temple for Garuda (bhagvan Vishnu’s vahan) which is of 30 ft tall, 15 ft wide and 6 ft thickness.
Hanumathjayanthi is celebrated with devotion.
Rath Yatra follows.
The temple complex also has akhanda jyothi that resembles the prosperity of the region.
You can visit Venkateswara Swamy temple in the complex along with 1000 Jyotirlingas.
Timings: 06:00 hrs – 20:00 hrs
Temple serves Anna Prasadam to devotees at temple complex.
Vlog to famous temples in this town!
How to reach Ponnur?
By Air
The nearest airport is at Vijayawada which is 79 km from the temple.
By Train
The nearest major railway junction is Nidubrolu which is few kilometres away from the main Island center.
By Road
Direct bus to the temple is available from Guntur and Vijayawada bus stations.
A Roadtrip from Hyderabad with excellent road conditions.
Recommendation
The road there after is ok‘ish SH with few bad patches in between.
Where to stay on your visit?
You can plan a stop on your way to Suryalanka (Bapatla) at Ponnur to visit the temples and continue on your journey
The beach destinations of Bapatla or Chirala are 30 minutes to 1.5 hrs duration further.
Alternatively, you can stay in Vijayawada which is the capital of Andhra Pradesh which has many good to excellent category hotels.
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37 responses to “A trip to Ponnur, Andhra Pradesh”
Thank you Srikanth, such a great article about my home town.
Glad to know…. It’s my hometown too… so have special place in my heart
These pictures are beautiful. Am sure the place must be a heavenly getaway.
Ponnur is inviting… I am packing my bags.
I have never been to South. So wanna explore this side of our country.
I am a fan of temples in India. Vl definitely visit this place.
Thanks for introducing this place.. I have stayed in Andhra but missed going to this place.
Our country is so full of such wonderful places! Your posture so detailed that I feel as if I am there
The place looks so divine and so scenic. A must visit place for sure.
Such beautiful temples
I am itching to know more about the history and epic of each of the temples now 🙂
Your posts are so elaborate and in detail, Srikanth. I feel I was transported to Ponnur. The visuals are stunning. I never knew it had famous temples. My helper was from there and that’s how I heard of the name.
Lovely place. Will surely consider to visit
Interesting story. The temple looks stunning.
There is so much to see in India before we see the world. Thanks for sharing all this to your readers.
I have never been to Andhra. Loved your post and beautiful pictures of temples. Very detailed and well written post. Adding this place in my bucket list.
Thanks for taking us on virtual trip of Ponnur, I am hearing the name of the place itself for the first time. Honestly the way you have shared the details through pics and history I can feel the ambience of its beauty. Awesome!
Loved the detailed article about this beautiful place and temples. Thanks for the virtual trip.
Have been to this temple, nice place love the pictures and the detailed which are post very informative.
Thank you, hope you liked it.. the roads are now relatively in a bad shape.. hope the government wakes up and does recarpeting of the roads
Detailed post with beautiful pics. Loved how beautifully you captured the place Ponnur and all the temples that this place has.
The temples look so majestic and beautiful, would love to visit Ponnur some time soon.
Loved the details and the pictures. Seems like a very beautiful place. I specially loved the history
A true virtual trip to the temple. Beautiful post with great pictures
I have heard about Ponnur from my sister. She visited the place some time back and I went crazy seeing their beautiful picture. I enjoyed reading this post as I could connect with what my sister shared about the place.
Your post is informative and your pictures eye-catching. All the best and may you continue to capture more places of interest and post them in your travelogue.
Well written blogpost with complete travel details
Wow looks like a beautiful place. Hope to visit it some day!
People are crazy about visiting foreign countries but there are so many hidden gems in out country that you need a lifetime to explore all of them.
That’s soo true…. I feel one lifetime won’t be sufficient to explore everything in India…
Seems to be a very nice place…I would love to visit the Veeranjenaswamy temple…
Thats such a detailed article. Surely a must visit plac
You’ve really put in so much detail. I hope to visit this spot someday after reading this
Andhra is a nice place for tourists. I have enjoyed my visits there every time. Very friendly people. I’d like to visit Ponnur too.
Wow! Can see so much time you must have put in to create this for your readers. The photos are not from google and personally clicked, the drone view along with the description of the temples on your vlog covers everything we need to know! Thank you.
Thanks Saher…. My native so tried adding as much as possible and will keep updating as much as possible with all my frequent trips
Thats such a detailed article. Surely a must visit place.. the pictures took my heart… lovely pictures.. a great read