of rupees to Bhadráchalam and agreed to help him to complete the work. Before this could be done, however, the Nizam's government, dissatisfied with the small amount of revenue received, sent a number of sowars to take Lakshminarasimha Rao to Hyderabad. He bribed the sowars to give him a little grace, promising to follow them shortly to Hyderabad. The rich man from Madras died soon after their departure; and Lakshminarasimha Rao embarked on rafts to cross the river, taking with him the dead man, his widow and mother, his own mother and a number of servants. Half way across he threw the corpse into the river and plunged in himself, followed by the widow, her mother-in-law and most of their followers.
The Nizam originally endowed the temple with a lakh of rupees, but the endowment was gradually reduced till in 1840-41 it was fixed at Rs. 19,125, for which a sanad was given. An important festival takes place at the temple in the month of Chaitra (March-April) and is said to be attended by as many as 20,000 people from all parts of India, in spite of the difficulties of the journey thither. A common object of the pilgrimage is to obtain children; the childless women sleep behind the temple and draw an augury of the future from their dreams.
Dummagúdem : Thirteen miles north of Bhadráchalam. Population 2,556. It was the head-quarters of the old Upper Gódávari Navigation project referred to in Chapter VII. Operations on this were discontinued in 1871, but while they were in progress Dummagúdem was a busy town. It is now an insignificant village. The anient is in good condition and a large lock stands close to the village and a canal runs parallel with the river there for two miles. The lock is in fair condition, but was much damaged by the floods of 1900. The village is also the head-quarters of the Church Missionary Society in the district (see p. 41) and the centre (p. 112) of a lace-making industry fostered by this. A number of roughly carved idols have been dug up near the place.
Gundála : Four and a half miles east of Bhadráchalam. Population 359. This (like Sarpavaram in the Cocanada taluk) is said to be the place where king Janaméjaya, the son of Paríkshit, performed the sacrifice described in the Mahábhárata because his father had been bitten by a snake. A hot spring in the bed of the Gódávari near by is pointed out as the pit (gundam) where the sacrifice was performed. Pilgrims to Bhadráchalam bathe in this, and the name Gundála is supposed to be derived from it.
