Chejerla

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Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

Guntur district map

Chejarla (चेजरला) is a village in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Nekarikallu mandal of Narasaraopet revenue division.[1]

Origin

Variants

Jat clans

Kamedia (कमेड़िया) Jat clan found in Rajasthani is a variant of Sanskrit word Kapota (कपोत), which means pigeon or dove. Dove in Rajasthani is called Kamedi (कमेड़ी). It was probably their state symbol and Kapoteshwara was their God, whose temple is at Chejerla, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

History

The village stands in the plains and is surrounded by a rocky hills and is covered by scrub jungle. The temple here is dedicated to Lord Siva and dates to the 4th or 5th century AD.[2] The deity is called Kapoteswara.[3]

Buddhism: This story is a renowned one not only, in Hindu mythology, but also in the Buddhist Jataka tales, which give us the lives of Siddhartha, the Buddha, in his previous births. The Sibi Jataka is as hoary and sacred to the Buddhist, as an embodiment of 'Saranagata vatsala', as Sibi Chakravarti is to the Hindu, as a supreme symbol of 'Raja Dharma' which enjoins a king to protect the refugee even at the cost of his own life. It was a Buddhist Monastery later converted to an Hindu Shrine as per Historical evidences found.[4]

Hinduism: This is probably the only temple in the whole of India dedicated to Lord Siva as Kapoteswara. The deity is in Lingakara. Here Siva is represented as Kapotheswara, Lord Sibi who gave a portion of his own body in order to save a pigeon that took refuge with him. Curiously, in the imago of the Linga there are even today large cavities as if portions have been scooped or cut out, and these are said to be the places of the body, from which the Lord cut off his own flesh, in order to save the life of the Kapota.

The image is said to be the image of the 'Kalebara' of Sibi, with the head cut off, and on top of the Linga, there are still two large vertical cavities. One of these cavities helps to drain off the Abhisheka Tirtha to an unknown place and even today the smell of raw flesh and blood comes out of this since the God here is a very powerful one. The temple is of the greatest importance to us from the point of view of temple architecture. There are, as is well known, three types of temple architecture.

Apsidal Temple: The temple of Chezerla is a rare exception and this is a temple on the Apsidal model. This Apsidal plan and barrel vaulted structure, is classified in the Vastu Sastras, as 'Hasti prasta' or elephant back. These were originally Buddhist Chaityas and were readjusted for the purpose of Hindu worship, by the introduction of internal walls and upper store to seclude the Garbha Griha from the rest of the building. The end of the temple takes the form of an apse and in its centre is a white marble Linga.

The fact that the temple is sacred to Buddhism and Hinduism and is built in a unique style, the temple must have come into existence, at a period of mutual tolerance between Hinduism and Buddhism. A famous inscription[5] in the temple further supports this.

A similar temple is the Trivikrama Temple at Ter, Maharashtra.[6]

Monuments

N-AP-60: Kapoteswara temple with the inscriptional monuments within the temple site (slabs in the temple site), Chejerla, district Guntur, Location: 16°18′59″N 79°50′58″. [7]

Anandas of Chejerla

Dr. K. Jamanadas[8] writes that ....

The Hiranya garbha prasuta kings of South India belong to the following dynasties,

1. Ananda gotra connected with Chezarla
2. Vishnukundin connected with Srisaila
3. Chalukyas
4. Pandyas
5. Rashtrakutas

Andhra Desha - Ananda Kings: Pallavas of Kanchi conquered heart of Andhra country around end of third century. The area around Guntur was freed from Pallavas by the dynasty of kings called "Ananda gotra". Only three kings are known from inscriptions; they are 1. Kandra, 2. Attivarman, and 3. Damodarvarman. Different dates, from 290 to 630 A.D., have been ascribed to these kings by different scholars. King Kandara was founder of city of Kandarapura, identified with modern Chezarla in Guntur District.

Damodarvarman, who is regarded predecessor of Attivarman, was devotee of Samyak Sambuddha. The Kapoteswara temple at Chezarla of fourth century was a originally a chaitya hall later converted into a brahmanic temple. He is described as son of king who performed Hiranyagarbha mahadana. Attivarman, worshiper of Sambhu, performed this mahadana. [D. C. Sarkar, 'Classical age' p.202 ff.]

चेजरला - चजरला

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[9] ने लेख किया है ...चजरला (AS, p.326) या 'चेजरला' गंतूर ज़िला, आन्ध्र प्रदेश का ऐतिहासिक स्थान है। प्राचीन काल में यहाँ एक बौद्ध चैत्यगृह स्थित था, जो दक्षिण भारत में बौद्ध धर्म की अवनति के पश्चात, पल्लवों के शासन काल में शिव मंदिर के रूप में परिणत हो गया था। यहाँ के स्तूप की, जो संरचनात्मक है न कि शैलकृत, खोज श्री री ने की थी। जान पड़ता है कि इसकी रूपरेखा व आकृति भी, जो पहले बौद्ध चैत्यों की भांति ही थी, बाद में शिव मंदिरों के अनुकूल ही बना ली गई।

External links

References

  1. "District Census Hand Book – Guntur" (PDF). Census of India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. pp. 14, 300.
  2. Reddy, Krishna, Indian History Tata McGraw-Hill, 2006
  3. "Guntur Culture | Guntur History". World66.com.
  4. https://archive.org/details/selectandhratemp023040mbp
  5. whatisindia.com (6 March 2007). "South Indian Inscriptions Volume_16 – Telugu Inscriptions of the Vijayanagara Dynasty @". Whatisindia.com.
  6. Ahir, D. C. (1992). Buddhism in South India. South Asia Books. p. 72. ISBN 9788170303329.
  7. Monuments in Andhra_Pradesh
  8. Rajput Period Was Dark Age Of India
  9. Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.326