Have you ever imagined about a Ram temple without the idol of Lord Hanuman? Yes, there is such a temple and is probably, one of the rarest in the country.
This rare temple is located at Gummadidala village about 42 kms from Hyderabad in Jinnaram mandal, Medak dist. The temple dates back to 11th century AD and is very popular. Normally every Sri Rama temple has Hanuman, but not in this one. As per locals, this is dedicated to Lord Rama’s marriage so here lord Rama is addressed as Sri Kalyana Ramachandra Swamy.
This unique temple has idols of Rama, his wife Sita, his brothers Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna, and their wives, Urmila, Mandavi and Shrutakeerthi. Interestingly, while Rama is normally seen clean shaven, in this temple he spots with mustache. This temple is the only temple we have in our country which has Lord Rama’s brothers’ and their wives’ idols installed in the temple.
The story behind this phenomena is, here Hanuman is considered as an incarnation of Lord Shiva. The followers of the Veera Vaishnavism of Sri Ramanuja Charyulu did not install idol in the temple as Sri Rama is the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu. The Vaishnava community who believe in Jambavant did not install a Hanuman idol here.
The temple is about on a 10 acre land and it doesn’t come under endowments due to lack of income. If developed, the place would become a pilgrimage center. Just like any other temple, the government is turning a blind eye on this one too.