Kotappakonda

Kotappakonda కోటప్పకొండ
Kotappakonda Location in Andhra Pradesh, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District	Guntur
Languages
• Official	Telugu
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	522601
Telephone code	918647-XXXX XXXX
Vehicle registration	AP-07-XX-XXXX
Nearest city	Narasaraopet
Lok Sabha constituency	Narasaraopet

Kotappakonda is a holy hill, situated in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is famous for the temple of Lord Siva which is constructed on it with a stairway of about 1000 steps. The hill appears with three peaks in any direction, "These three peaks are known as Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra" so also called Trikutadri. It has four temples, one at the base, the other at an elevation of 600 feet (180 m). The main temple is at a height of 1,500 feet (460 m). The village situated at the foot of the hill is named after Kotappakonda and is called Kotappakonda village.

Legend

One interesting story is that in the temple surroundings you won't find crows flying around. Once a lady used to worship Lord Siva with fruit, flowers etc. One day when she was on the way to temple, one crow disturbed the lady's offerings. She got angry and cursed them, saying that crows cannot enter this temple premises. You cannot find a crow there today.

There was one legend about temple that was famous and told by priests here. Main deity used to reside at a height of 1500 feet, people used to worship this idol for a long time. A lady from the neighbouring town used to worship the idol for a long time, and lord Siva got impressed by her and started to follow her one day. After some time, the lady realized someone following her and turned back to inspect and because of this Lord Siva turned himself into an idol. The fact, we have another idol 600 feet reflects this story.

Transport

Kotappakonda town can be reached by bus from Guntur or Narasaraopet or Chilakaluripet. After reaching the town, temple can be reached by footsteps or by bus.

• From Narasaraopet --> Kotappakonda (11 km)
• From Chilakaluripet--> Kotappakonda (15 km)
• From Guntur-->Narasaropet --> Kotappakonda
• From Amaravathi --> Sateainapalli--> Narasaropet --> Kotappakonda

Celebration on Maha Sivaratri

File:ప్రభ.jpeg

At the time of thirunalla

A very big fair is held on the eve of Maha Sivaratri every year and more than 7 lakh people throng this temple. This is called Kotayya thirunalla or Kotappakonda thirunalla.

Devotees from surrounding villages and towns like Kuvuru(200 years History in kotappakonda), Ameenasahebpalem, Narasarao Pet, Appapuram, uppalapadu,guravayapallem Kammavari Palem, Purushothapatnam, Yadavalli, Chavitipalem,pothavaram,murikipudi,boppudi, etc. build bamboo frames decorated with colour papers and lights called prabhas.