Mancherial: People from the Adilabad region and nearby districts visit Chinnayya Gutta and Peddayya Gutta often. They want these places developed as tourist spots. To reach the temples of Peddayya and Chinnayya, visitors must walk nearly 5 km through the forest.
The forest is beautiful, but officials have neglected its development. Locals and visitors are urging for better roads and the transformation of the area into a tourist attraction.
Peddayya and Chinnayya are important deities for the tribal community, believed to bring prosperity to farmers. Peddayya’s temple is about 50 km from Mancherial, and Chinnayya’s temple is 45 km away. The areas, known as ‘Peddayya Gutta’ and ‘Chinnayya Gutta,’ are lush with greenery, streams, and birds.
Local tribes believe the Pandavas lived in these forests during exile, with Dharma Raju as Peddayya and Bhima as Chinnayya, worshiping them as gods.
Near Peddayya Gutta is a sacred lake called Koneru, which holds water year-round. Bathing in this lake and visiting the temple is believed to fulfill wishes.
Legend says the Pandavas stayed at Peddayya Gutta during their exile. Devotees perform rituals with rice, eggs, and cash at a sacred rock called Gajjibanda before visiting the temple. Peddayya Gutta is famed for blessing farmers. During summer and monsoon, especially on Sundays and Thursdays, many visit for blessings, taking lake water home as sacred ‘Theertham.’ The temple, known as Peddayya’s ‘Illaari,’ looks like a simple hut.
A tradition involves devotees arriving in wet clothes after bathing in the lake. If the tribal priest, in a divine trance, taps them with a ceremonial whip, it is believed to bring marriage to the unmarried and children to the childless.
Farmers seek advice from the temple priest on which crops to grow each season.
A miraculous belief is that the priest, when in divine trance, climbs and descends a nearby 100-meter hill in ten minutes, seen as a divine act by Lord Peddayya.
Unique to these temples, tribal people serve as priests, unlike other temples. Devotees also test their wishes using the sacred ‘Allubanda’ stone.
Only those whose wishes are meant to come true can lift this stone; those whose wishes won’t come true cannot lift it no matter how hard they try.
This style of worship is distinct from mainstream practices. About 2 km from the Chinnayya temple is a waterfall called Manchukondalu. Its stream reacts to clapping sounds and never dries up, even in summer or droughts, which the tribal priests see as divine.
