kotappakonda Sivaratri Festival

One such popular fair which is celebrated yearly on the eve of Maha Shivratri and visited by lakhs of devotees mainly from the Telugu speaking states of Telangana & Andhra Pradesh is the Kotappakonda Tirunalla Fair.Kotappakonda is a holy hill, situated in Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located 20 kilometers from Narasaraopet and Chilakaluripet city and 62 kilometers south west of Guntur City. Celebrated with great devotion and fervor every year with a large number of devotees thronging the place. Kotappa Konda hill appears with 3 peaks in any direction so it's also called as Trikutadri, Trikuta Parvatham. The three hills are Brahma hill, Vishnu hill and Rudra hill. These 3 hills can be distinctly seen from a distance from any direction. Brahma Shikharam: The main temple Trikoteswara Swamy Temple is located here. Rudra Shikharam: Old Kotayya temple is located here. This is the first place where Trikoteswara Swamy existed, seeing the great devotion of Devotee Gollabhama, Trikoteswara Swamy came to Brahma Shikharam. Hence it is called Paatha (old) Kotayya Temple. Lord Paapanaseswara Temple is here. It is believed that Lord Vishnu did penance for Lord Shiva. There is also a holy pond "Paapanasa Teertha" here.Sundudu, a cattleman, with his wife Kundiri used to live towards the south of the Trikuta hills. They became rich soon after the birth of their first child, a beautiful daughter, Anandavalli(Gollabhama). Slowly she became a great devotee of Lord Shiva and started spending most of her time offering prayers to Lord Shiva at the Old Koteswara Temple located on Rudra hill.She used to visit Rudra hill every day, even during the scorching summer, to offer prayers to the Lord. Pleased with her penance, Jangama Devara appeared before her. Sympathized by her penance, Jangama Devara blessed her to be a pregnant, though she was a spinster. Unmindful of her pregnancy she carried her daily prayers as usual. From Rudra hill, Anandavalli proceeded towards her home and after reaching Brahma hill, she lost her patience and turned back. The moment she turned back, breaking the promise she made, Lord Jangama Devara immediately stopped where he was, at Brahma hills and entered into a cave on that hill and turned himself into a Lingam. This sacred placed is famous by the name New Koteswara Temple.