Yanam is one of the regions in the Union Territory of Pondicherry, which is 870 Kms away from it. It is situated on the East Coast of the Indian Peninsula between 16 degrees 42' northern latitude, and between 82 degree 11' Eastern longitude bounded on all sides by the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh State. TOP
Important Temples - Yanam
Alivelu Manga Sametha Shri Venkateswara Temple :
This temple is well known as "Venkanna Babu Temple", "Chaldikudu Venkanna Temple" and "Meesala Venkanna Temple".
It had been very famous for performing Child Marriages in pre independence of India. Yanam was also called "KALYANA PURAM". TOP
The speciality of the Temple is the Swamy Idol. It has big mustaches like Lord Sathyanarayana Swamy of Annavaram. This temple was built by the kings of Rajamahendravaram, now called "Rajahmundry" in the 15th Century. We can see the sculptures of those period in this temple.
The Venkanna Ratham
The Venkanna Festival is celebrated in the month of March every year by the people of Yanam in grand manner. Lord Venkateswara Kalyanam is the important day of the festival. Ponnavahanam, Radha Yatra and Chakrateertham are the important events of the festival.
The Ratham festivals
The Ratham weight is around 15 Tonnes.The Govt. declares Holiday for all Goverment Offices on this special event. TOP
The Mosque
The site for the Mosque was donated by the French Government in 1848. At that time a small Mosque was constructed. Then in 1956, the same was remodeled. It was demolished in 1978 and a new Mosque was constructed. The Mosque has been extended as the Grand Mosque. The Mosque caters to the people of nearby villages like Thallarevu, Kolanka, Sunkarapalem which are in the adjacent State of Andhra Pradesh..
There is a special importance to Pondicherry in which many religions, castes and languages are in existance, and there is another special importance to Yanam which is physically in Andhra Pradesh state and politicially in the part of Pondicherry. Yanam is well known as a 'French Yanam' This region was ruled by French People for 300 years. The monument of the Catholic Church' French rulers is the the rememberance of the French Rulers is linked with this church. This church was built under European style. The furniture, decoration articles were imported from France. The French missionaries built this church in the year 1846. The foundation stone was laid down by Father Michel Lecnam and he died on 30th April, 1836 without completing the church work. In his remembrance a culvert was built in this church. The church work was completed in the year 1846. There is another special attraction in this church in that a hill temple was built in the premises of the church by the French rulers, and there is another hill temple behind the church which was built by the English engineers.
There was an iteresting story behind this chruch that in the year 1943 a Ship named Villiam B. Augustus, was thrown to a sand island due to heavy cyclone. Though they tried hard to rescue the ship weighing 1000 tonnes using manpower, it was in vain. The ship stayed for one year in the same place without moving an inch. At that time, one engineer by name E.H.Swini was deputed from America for this purpose. He also tried and came to a conclusion that this task would not be possible without divine intervention. And he worshipped the Lord ' Mary Maa' and all of sudden the ship moved from the sand island. In tribute of the Lord Mary Maa, the engineer and his wife constructed this church in Yanam. These festivals can also be seen now in the hill temple behind this church.
From then, every year in March, a major festival is being celebrated. TOP
Places to visit in Yanam
Aerial View of Yanam
Yanam has got a very beautiful view. It is covered with Coconut trees. It is located over the Banks of the Gauthami Godavari River. Humidity is high in this region.
The Dariyala Thippa Road
Yanam consists of 8 villages namely,
1. Kanakalapeta
2. Mettakur
3. Kurasampeta
4. Farampeta
5. Dariyalathippa
6. Dommeti Peta
7. Guireyampeta
8. Savithri Nagar.
This is actually the river bank road of Gauthami Godavari. This road ends with Savithri Nagar village. After Savithri Nagar, the river goes into the Sea. Now the Govt. has taken steps to make this area as one of the tourist spots of Yanam Region because it has a very good River View. There is a proposal to have a boat house in this area. TOP
Yanam Ferry Road
The Yanam Ferry Road was inaugurated on 11.1.2000.
Daily above Ten Thousand passengers are travelling to and fro on this Panti. The people from Konaseema area under the Amalapuram Constituency of East Godavari District are mainly using this river way for reaching Kakinada, the District Head Quarters.
This river is called Gauthami Godavari and is one of the branches of the main river Godavari. It enters the Bay of Bengal after crossing around 12 Kms. The maximum capacity the Panti can hold is 15 Tonnes. It supports the two wheelers, three wheelers as well as four wheelers and excludes heavy vehicles. Per trip, it carries roughly 200 passengers along with vehicles. The time of journey depends on the river flow. Generally, it takes 15 minutes to cross from one end to another. A Bridge is being constructed across this river. TOP
Important Temples nearer to Yanam
Lord Satyanarayana Swamy's Temple is located in the Annavaram. It is around 80 Kms from Yanam towards East. It is very famous for performing Vrathams especially for newly married couples for getting blessings from the Lord Satyanarayana Swamy. It is the second important Temple in AndhraPradesh after Tirupathi.
Draksharamam
It is one of the Jyothirlingas in India. The Shiva here is called Bheemeswara Swamy. The height of the Linga is around 14 Ft. and it is one of the oldest temples in India. People say that it was constructed by the Devathas. There is one more temple called Manikyamabika Devi Temple in the campus of this Temple. It is one of the Ashtadasa Pithas in India. It is very famous as it has the Sakthi Chakra and the Parvathi Goddess is sitting on this Chakra. It is around 16 Kms from Yanam. There are frequent buses running from Yanam to Draksharamam.
Pithapuram Padagaya Temple
