Namasthe- Bhadraachalam Raamadaas 3

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

 

This is the interesting story behind the construction of the Raama temple in Bhadraachalam.

 

Because Govanna's primary interest was not making money, he remained poor. It was getting harder to make both ends meet. His uncles working with the Sultan of Hyderabad requested Sultan to give a job for their nephew. He was known to be a devotee and an honest person. So Sultan gave him the job of collecting tax money from the Bhadrachalam side of his kingdom.

 

During the same time Govanna or bhaktha Raamadaas was collecting some money to rebuild the dilapidated temple of Lord Raama in Bhadraachalam. He had collected some money and with the help of other well wishers, he started building the new temple. Soon the money collected was over and construction of the temple was only half way through. He needed more money to complete the temple. He had collected tax from most of the people and that money he collected was almost equal to the amount he needed to complete the building of the temple. With out thinking about the consequences, in his eagerness to complete the temple construction, Raamdaas took all the money he collected and used it to build the temple. Temple looked so beautiful and people really appreciated Bhaktha Raamadaas's selfless effort. Raamdaas also was so happy to see his dream of building a temple come true and momentarily forgot about the inappropriateness of his action.

 

After a few months, it was time to pay the tax money and he did not have any money left with him. Sultan called him and asked why he was not able to pay the money on time. Raamadaas told the truth. Sultan was very angry and told his ministers to put him in jail. Also he threatened that if he could not raise the money in two months, he would be beheaded. Where can poor Raamdaas can get the money from? He just chanted Raama naama day and night and prayed Raama to protect him.

 

Days passed and the day for beheading Raamdaas was nearing. The night before the scheduled day of killing Raamadaas, something strange happened. Two young soldiers wearing bow and arrow knocked at the door of Sultan. Nobody dared to wake up Sultan after he retired for the day. Sultan was surprised to hear the knock and went himself to answer the door. He saw these two handsome young men at the door. They handed him all the money Raamdaas owed and told Sultan to give a receipt for the money he accepted . Also they told him to let Raamdaas free because he was debt free then. Sultan asked who they were and they refused to answer and insisted on getting the receipt then. Sultan gave a handwritten receipt and these youths disappeared into thin air. Sultan was stunned and knew that they were not ordinary people and they were Raama and Lakshaman who came to rescue their devotee Raamdaas from death.

 

These two handsome men went straight to Raamdaas's jail and threw an envelope containing the receipt from Sultan on his lap. Raamdaas opened and saw the receipt and wondered where it came from. He could not see anybody. By that time Sultan sent his men to bring Raamdaas to his court. When Raamadaas came, Sultan told him about the two handsome youth with bow and arrow in their hands and how they handed over all the tax money Raamadaas had collected. Sultan told Raamadaas that he was free and apologized for putting him in jail. Sultan continued: " Bhaktha Raamadaas, now I realize what a mistake I committed by punishing you for spending the money for a noble cause. I should have appreciated your effort to rebuild that temple. " Sultan prostrated at the feet of the great devotee.

 

Raamadaas in turn did namaskaar to Sultan because he considered Sultan more blessed than he was since Sultan could see Lord in person where as he was only the recipient of His kindness. Sultan tried to give back the money and Raamdaas did not want to accept anything except just two coins as a mark of divine significance.Even now the coins are there in the temple.

 

He straight went to the temple and chanted Raamanaamam continuously and he had several darshanas of Lord Rama in His most beautiful form. He spent the rest of his life in the temple glorifying Raama. He composed many songs about Raama and his story and poems were an inspiration even for Bhaktha Thyaagaraaja to write songs.

 

Regards and prayers

 

savitri