Ponnur

Places to visit

• Sri Sakshi Bhavanarayana Swamy Temple : Shri Sakshi Bhavanarayana Swamy Temple is situated at a distance of 400m from Ponnur. The temple is devoted to Lord Vishnu. This Shri Sakshi Bhavanarayana Swamy Templewas builtin the 11th century AD by King Nalaparaju. Later the temple was adjusted and renovated by the Chola King Kulothunga. It is said that this Shri Sakshi Bhavanarayana SwamyTemple equals 108 Tirupati temples. Goddess Rajyalakshmi shrine (samadhi) is located within the temple campus. The Rathotsavam festival is celebrated in this temple.According to the Legends, a Brahmin named Kesavaiah was childless and used to visit holy shrines with his brother-in-law Govindudu. Kesavaiah had promised Govindudu at the premises of Lord Narayana in Kasi that he will marry his daughter to Govindudu. With blessings from Kasi Narayana, Kesavaiah was blessed with a baby girl and named her Akka Lakshmi. When Akkalakshmi attained the age for marriage, Kesavaiah refused to fulfill the promise and asked him for a witness. Govindudu went to Kasi and prayed to Lord Vishnu to act as his witness. Impressed Lord Narayana appeared in Ponnur and acted as the witness for the Kesavaiah’s promise.
• Shri Veeranjaneya Swamy Temple : Shri Veeranjaneya Swamy Temple is situated at a distance of 800 m from Ponnur. The temple was built in 1969 AD by Kota Jaganatha Swamy who installed Garuda Statues andAnjaneya Swamy. The temple is also called Ponnur Anjaneya Swamy.The idol of Anjaneya Swamy is 24 ft in height, 12 ft wide, and 4 ft thick. This statue is carved out of a single black granite rock which was brought under the surveillance of Bhavanarayana Swamy from Edlapadu near Chilakaluripet. There is a temple for Garuda within the temple campus which is 30 ft in height, 15 ft wide, and 6 ft thick. The visiting hours for the temple are 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Special Darshana is also offered with Rs 5 ticket per person and the timings are 5:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. A grand festival is celebrated during the occasion of Hanuman Jayanthi which lasts for 4 days. Thousands of devotees from nearby places visit the temple,especially during Hanuman Jayanthi.