Singotam Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple.

Singotam Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple is located in Singotam village, formerly known as Singapattanam, near Kollapur in the Nagarkurnool district of Telangana State. We chanced upon visiting this ancient and popular temple on 13th March 2021. It was just destiny, God’s calling, that made us visit this ancient and locally very popular temple.

We went to the beautiful Somasila village on the banks of the Krishna River on the 11th of March morning, on the occasion of the Maha Shivaratri festival that day, to visit the famous 7th century Sri Lalitha Someshwara Swamy temple there and for a short sightseeing vacation. The next day was equally important; it was Lalitha Someshwara Swamy Kalyanotsavam day.

 We stayed at the Haritha Resort on the banks of the Krishna River, where the river water reaches up to the top of the foundation of the cottages where we stayed, during the rainy season! At the Lalitha Someshwara Swamy temple, we had a very good Darshan of Lalitha Devi and all the Jyothirlinga temples in that large temple complex. At this temple and the Haritha Resort we were told about Singotam Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple, and its importance and were advised to visit the temple on our way back home.

We reached Somasila from Secunderabad via Kalwakurthy and Kollapur, a distance of 198 km. And on our way back we planned to return home via Jetprole, Pebbair and NH44 National Highway, which is the Bangalore-Hyderabad highway, a distance of 220 km.

On 13th March we had time to stay at the Resort till Noon but as we had nothing more to do at Somasila we checked out by 9:40 am and started our return journey, not planning to visit Singotam Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple. However, after travelling just a few meters on Pebbair Road, we suddenly decided to turn back to reach Kollapur and travelled to visit Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple at Singotam. We were travelling with the help of Google maps which informed us that the temple would close by 11 am. It was 10 am by then and we reached the temple by 10:30 am to have a good Darshan, perform Archana/Harathi rituals and visit the temple surroundings leisurely. However, being Saturday the temple did not close by 11 am.

We are very happy to have visited this temple. It was just destiny, God’s calling, that made us vacate the Resort early and spontaneously turn back on Pebbair Road, to visit this ancient and popular temple.

We witnessed and gathered a lot of information about the temple and it goes as follows:

The temple was built in the 13th century by Surabhi - Raja Sri Singamanaidu who ruled that region then. There is a legend behind the construction of the temple. It tells us that there was a farmer growing crops on his farmland and rearing a cow for his livelihood. While ploughing his land, his plough got obstructed by a black stone. The farmer took the stone from there and placed it aside. But to the surprise of the farmer, the stone got placed in the same place every time he tried to relocate it. The farmer still could not realise the holiness of the stone which was actually a Lingam. Helpless he prayed to Lord Srimannarayana to help him out. Soon the reigning king of the area, Raja Singamanaidu of the Surabhi family had a dream where he was instructed by the Lord to construct a temple where the idol was found and worship it regularly. After that, the king immediately built a temple and sanctified the idol by the Brahmins of the Oruganti dynasty. At that time, a small shrine was built for the Swamy to keep him under shade. The temple of that time is still in the sanctum sanctorum. Later, during the reign of Rani Ratna Mamba, the construction of the Temple which we are seeing today was completed.

Lord Narasimha Swamy is worshipped here in the form of Shiva Lingam. Lord Narasimha Swamy looks majestic in the form of a one-and-a-half-foot-high and one-foot-in-diameter Lingam, wearing Urthvapundras and Tripundras (Panganamas and Vibhutirekhas that is Niluvunamas and Addanamas) with a neatly twisted moustache.

There is a beautiful Koneru/Temple pond adjacent to the temple, which you can see in the attached photographs. Water to this Koneru comes from the nearby Singasamudram, a gigantic lake now a water reservoir spread across more than 10 kilometres area, supplying drinking water to about 100 small and big villages surrounding it and to more than 5,000 acres of agricultural land below it.

The temple site is developed into a beautiful picnic spot with green and lush surroundings. There is an accommodation facility at the temple for the devotees, including at the guest house of the Kollapur kings, just adjacent to the temple.

Devotees can visit the temple on any day; it is however crowded on Saturdays, festival days, auspicious days and during various temple Utsavalu like Brahmotsavam. People also have special occasions/celebrations at the temple premises like weddings, tonsure ceremonies, vehicle pooja and other family functions. The temple is also crowded during winter and summer vacations when devotees come with families to seek blessings.

After this memorable and blessed stay at the temple, we returned home happily via Wanaparthy, Kothapeta and National Highway NH44.