Kumárasvámigúdem: Twenty-six miles south-east of chap. xv. Bhadráchalam. Population 1 10. Contains a very old and Bhadra- sacred temple to Kumárasvámi, son of Siva. He was devoted chalam. to the fair sex more than was seemly, and his father cured Kumara- him by contriving that any woman he looked upon should at svamigiidem. once assume the shape of his mother, Párvati. The first occasion on which this happened was at Kumárasvámigúdem, and Kumárasvámi induced Siva to direct that a bath in the Gódávari at that spot should have great sanctifying virtue. The temple has no income and is very much out of repair.
Kunnavaram: Stands at the junction of the Saveri and Gódávari rivers; population 1,107. Formerly the station of the Special Assistant Agent and now the head-quarters of the District Forest Officer, Upper Gódávari. It is an important point for the river-borne trade, as it is beyond the Gháts and the unbridged Saveri and carts can travel from it to Bhadráchalam.
Parnasala: Twenty-two miles by road north of Bhadrá- chalam. Population 276. It is widely believed in the district that this is the spot on the banks of the Gódávari described in the Rámáyana where Rávana carried off Síta.
In a stream bed near the village the people show the stone on which Síta is supposed to have sat while bathing. Certain marks on a rock resemble foot-prints, and these are therefore called Síta's foot-prints, and are revered accordingly. On another rock are yellow stains which are attributed to the yellow dye from Síta's clothes when they were laid out to dry, or, according to another account, to the saffron she used to adorn herself withal. The black stain left by Ráma's sash when put out to dry is also shown on another rock. The Nalugu gutta hill on the opposite side of the river is supposed to have been formed by an accumulítion of nalugu (a kind of soap) left by Síta after her daily bath. Behind the Vishnu temple is a hollow which is pointed out as the exact place where Síta was seized; some of the earth is said to have been carried off with her. There is also a Siva temple in the neighbourhood where, it is said, Rávana used to pretend to worship, disguised as a mendicant.
A small festival is held at Parnasála in Chaitra (March- April) at the same time as the Bhadráchalam festival, and those who visit the latter place go on to Parnasála.
Rékapalle: Twenty-eight miles east-south-east of Bhadráchalam, and below the junction of the Gódávari and Saveri rivers. Population 617. The name means 'wing village' and is explained as referring to the abduction of Síta which
