Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Temple - Dwaraka Tirumala, Rajahmundry - Timings, History, Darshan, Pooja Timings

At a distance of 1 km from Dwaraka Tirumala Bus Stand, 45.5 km from Eluru, 73 km from Rajahmundry, 101 km from Vijayawada, 135 km from Kakinada and 278 km from Visakhapatnam, Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple is located on the top of the Seshachala Hill at Dwaraka Tirumala in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. This temple is considered as sacred as the famous Sri Venakteswara Temple of Tirumala.

Lord Vishnu is presiding deity here in the form of Sri Venkateswara Swamy. The temple was constructed by the Mylavaram Zamindars in 19th century. The self-manifested idol of Sri Venkateswara Swamy was unearthed by a saint named Dwaraka and hence, the temple is called Dwaraka Tirumala. This place is also called Chinna Tirupati.

The statue of the lord is visible above the waist and the lower portion is imagined to be in the earth. The holy feet are said to be offered to Bali Chakravarthi in Patala loka for his daily worship. The full size idol of Lord Venkateswara standing at the back of the main idol is said to have been installed by the great social reformer Ramanujacharya in 11th century. These two idols are located in the same sanctum sanctorum which is a unique feature of this temple. The idols of Goddess Padmavathi and Nanchari are installed in the Arthamandapa.

This temple is a masterpiece of South Indian Architecture with its five-storied main Rajagopuram facing the south and three other gopuras on the other three sides. There are several temples of Alwars attached to the Prakara on all sides. There are other shrines in the temple, Lord Anjaneya Swamy, Garuda, Saint Dwaraka and image of Sri Tallakapaka Annamacharya.
Another interesting feature of the temple is that the hill appearing to be a serpent in form.

Brahmotsavam (around May) and Vaikunta Ekadasi (Dec/Jan) are celebrated grandly in the temple. The Tiru kalyanotsavam is celebrated twice a year.

Dwaraka Tirumala is well connected by bus from Eluru and with nearest train station at Bhimadole (19 km)

Timings: 6 am - 1 pm and 3 pm - 9 pm. Darshan usually takes 1-2 hrs.