to atone for his seduction of the wife of Gautama. The erring god brought 'crores of waters' underground to the Gódávari at this place; andt he deity of the temple took his name from this act. There is a local festival there every year on the Sivarátri day. The great pushkaram festival held once in every thirteen years is celebrated here with great éclat.
Kótipalli forms a proprietary estate which pays a peshkash of Rs. 5,831. It belongs to the Rája of Vizianagram.
Márédipáka: Seven miles west by north of Rámachandrapuram. Population 1,005. Some Singams do a little tape-weaving there. After Kándrakóta in Peddápuram taluk, this is the greatest centre for the worship of the village deities in the district. The goddess of this village is called Mávullamma. She was originally a mortal maiden who was persecuted by her mother. Unable to bear the latter's cruelty, she hid in a cave by a mango tree, and disappeared for ever. Some days later she was seen in a dream by her parents, and informed them that she had become one with the divine, and must henceforth be worshipped as a goddess. This has been done, and the priests at her temple are supposed to belong to her family. The annual festival in her honour, which lasts for a fortnight, attracts many pilgrims. One peculiar feature of the ceremonies is that the blood of the sacrificed buffalo is left in the temple all night, with various kinds of grain scattered around it, and the door secured and sealed. In the morning, it is said, a foot-step is seen in the temple, and some of the grain is found thrown into the pot. This is considered to afford a forecast of the coming season; those grains being expected to do well which are found in the pot.
Rámachandrapuram: Head-quarters of the taluk, and once the chief village of a large ancient zamindari which was eventually bought in by Government. The place is a union of 10,692 inhabitants, the other component villages being Pasalapúdi and Mutsumilli, and contains a travellers' bungalow, a local fund rest-house for natives, a police-station, an English lower secondary school for boys and a local fund hospital founded in 1876. A tahsildar, stationary sub-magistrate and sub-registrar are stationed there. Some 25 Dévánga households weave cloths of a fair quality. The village is a centre of trade in local produce.
Ramaghattálu: Four miles east of Kótipalli. It is a hamlet of the village of Masakapalli, the population of which is 2,244. It contains one of the many temples supposed to have been founded by Ráma to expiate the sin of having killed the Brahman king Rávana. Ráma's foot-steps are said
