Dokka Seethamma Aqueduct cries for attention

Guruvugaru Sri Chaganti Koteswara Raogaru, Lakshyasiddi ane amsam meda chesina prasangam lo vinna taruvatha, asalu ee Dokka Seetammagaru evaru anna curiosity vachi, koncham research chesa. Aa research lo bhagam ga nenu pattukunna articles ivi.

I want to find the original picture of Mrs. Dokka Seetamma garu. I will definitely update the post once I find it.

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Pravachanam video:

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NO HEADWAY: Dokka Seethama bust size statue at the entrance of P. Gannavaram Aqueduct named after her in the year 2000.

Sir Arthur Cotton planned the aqueduct at P. Gannavaram to cater the needs of farmers in Konaseema area while he was constructing barrage at Dowleswaram..

P. Gannavaram aqueduct was first constructed in 1859. Later, a new aqueduct cum road bridge was constructed across the river Vynateya near Gannavaram , to facilitate crossing of Gannavaram Canal and also to irrigate an ayacut of 45,000 acres in Nagaram islandin the year 2000. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Balayogi was instrumental in construction of the new aqueduct. The then Minister for Major Irrigation Mandava Venkateswara Rao opened this on July 22, 2000 and named the aqueduct after Dokka Seethamma.

Former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, then promised to make the old Gannavaram bridge along with Dokka Seethamma Aqueduct as a tourist spot. However, the promise remained only on paper for the last one decade.

On the other side of Vynateya river, there is another Gannavaram which is locally called Lankala Gannavaram and one can reach there only by country boat. Several films were shot in two Gannavarams. Yannabattula Venkateswara Rao, sarpanch of Lankala Gannavaram, said “the promise of making the aqueduct as a tourist spot has been in cold storage. We represented this along with Patha (old) Gannavaram sarpanch to our MLA Pamula Rajeswari Devi and MP G.V. Harsha Kumar several times but to no avail”.

Referring to Dokka Seethamma, P. Gannavaram Sarpanch Yedlapalli Veeravenkata Satyanarayana said Seethamma was popular as Annapoorna as she used to provide food to the poor and needy in the area when Sir Arthur Cotton was constructing the barrage and aqueduct. She had even provided traditional food to one of the British Collectors who was suffering from fever. Recognising her charity John Edward extended invitation to Seethamamma for his installation ceremony in London. Seethamma had rejected the invitation..

However, her photo was kept in a chair during the ceremony and respects were paid to her then.

Balayogi, who had seen photograph of Seethamma in London museum, proposed to name the Gannavaram Aqueduct after her.

Credits: Written by B.V.S. BHASKAR, from the Hindu paper.

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SMT. DOKKA SEETHAMMA - A PRE FACE

Smt. Dokka Sithamma lived in a remote village Lankala Gannavaram on the banks of holy river the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, between 1841-1909, and set her name assynonymous with ANNADANAM, feeding the people in need with kindness¶ and hospitality. During the days when there was no media, even the culture of news paper reading was not, developed, her name in charity and hospitality crossed not only the states in India, but the boundaries of the continent. Her photograph was inaugurated in the main hall of the Royal Palace of London by the then Ruler, King Edward VII on 01.01.1903. The photograph installed in 1903 was witnessed by the then Hon. Speaker of our Lok Sabha, Sri GMC Balayogi in the year 2000 when he had visited the palace in London. In telugu written by some writers apart from the Bhupathi Narayana Murthy, are also written some books on her.

During the pre-independence days, an aqueduct was constructed on the River Godavari between Delta Gannavaram and Lankala Gannavaram. Since it became very old, in the year 2000 the State Government of Andhra Pradesh constructed a new aqueduct by theside of the old one. The then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Sri N. Chandra Babu Naidu had opened the same in the year 2000 and named it as Dokka Sithamma Aqueduct and her bronze statue was installed on the same, and affirmed the gratitude of the Andhra people towards Smt. Sithamma. Our eldest brother Sri Mirthipati Narayana had published a book on Smt Dokka Sithamma and the river Godavari explaining why the newly constructed Aqueduct should be named after Smt. Sithammaand met the then Hon. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Sri N. Chandra Babu Naiduand the then Hon. Speaker of Loksabha Sri GMC Balayogi and the other relevant Leaders and dignities, and requested to name the aqueduct after Smt. Sithamma. The people in Konaseema will never forget the efforts of my brother Sri. M. Narayana for getting the aqueduct named after Smt. Sithamma. It is our blessed privilege, we were borne and brought up in Lankala Gannavaram, theholy place where Smt. Dokka Sithamma lived for nearly 60 years, and our house is just beside Her house.

In 1996, Doordarsan telecasted a serial on the life history of Smt. Sithamma. Famous TV (DD) serial Sri Maryadaramanna fame Sri Jayanthi Bhavani Sankaram played Sri Joganna role. The DD crew in all respects to complete their shooting works in our and the surrounding villages.

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Video:



Pictures:

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Update - 10/5/2013(thanks to Ravi Teja):

Here is the original photo of Smt. Dokka Seethamma garu:

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Update - 4/21/2014(thanks to Teja Venkat):

'The Guest Is God': The Hospitality of a Hindu Saint

The story of a holy woman who sacrificed her life's dream--and her dying wish--in order to serve the poor.

Considered a saint during her own life, Dokka Sitamma (1841-1909 C.E.) spent years feeding the poor and sick in her Indian village. After her death, the holy woman was lauded throughout India as "Apara Annapurna"- an incarnation of the goddess Annapurna.

Excerpted from Wisdom's Blossoms: Tales of the Saints of India with permission of Shambhala Publications.

Everyone in Andhra Pradesh knew Dokka Sitamma, and everyone had an opinion about the elderly widow.

To the superstitious, Sitamma was an omen of bad luck because she, like all widows, was responsible for the death of her husband. To those blinded by caste and custom, she was an impudent old woman for refusing to remain confined to her house as a Brahmin widow should. But to the destitute and the devout, Sitamma was mercy personified, for she unfailingly fed the hungry.

With no children of her own to care for, and a heart overflowing with motherly love, Sitamma adopted the poor as her sons and daughters. "This illiterate moron is doing great harm by inviting those of a lower station into her home," sniffed the orthodox Brahmins, and when their condemnation failed to deter her, they took to humiliating her. Though the calumnies and threats and loneliness stung her, in the end they were little to one whose heart sung of compassion and love.

"Come in! Come in! I have just finished cooking and was hoping that you would join me for dinner tonight." Sitamma would quickly say this to those who came to her in need, thus sparing them the humiliation of having to beg for food.

Because of the chicanery of some unscrupulous neighbors who despised her ministry and prized her fertile fields, she found her large holdings reduced year after year until she was left with a small plot of land. A famine came and still Sitamma never turned away those in need, somehow managing to make her shrinking supplies feed a growing stream of hungry souls. And even when she had little to eat, she remained grateful for the opportunity to serve, for it gave her joy and feeding the poor was her chosen path to salvation.

One night after working in the kitchen for many hours, Sitamma thought: `I have served four decades and now my body has become worn out. I am nearing the end of my life. It is time for me to go to Varanasi. There I may pass away in peace with the Lord's name on my lips.'

For the last few years, Sitamma had dreamed of going to the holy city, for to die there was to be assured of liberation. Every time she set out, however, a desperate arrival or a traveling pilgrim prevented her from leaving. So she would return to her cooking and chanting, putting aside the only desire she had for herself, a desire that daily grew more powerful. But tonight she knew that the hours of her life were few and that only a handful of tomorrows remained.

When morning came, Sitamma gave away her last few possessions so as to bring her charitable works to a close. She hired a bullock cart for the first leg of her journey and set out for Varanasi. Though every rut and rock in the road jarred her old bones, and the sun was unmercifully hot, Sitamma was filled with a happiness that increased with each passing mile, for every turn of the bullock carts' wheels brought her nearer to the end of her earthly sojourn.

At eventide, Sitamma and the bullock-cart driver took shelter in a free roadside inn for traveling pilgrims. The hard day of travel weighed on her and she wearily lay down on a bed of rags. As she began to fall asleep, she was awakened by the cries of young children in the next room.

"I know that you haven't eaten today, but we don't have any food to give you, my love," she heard a father's voice consoling his daughter.
"Can't you ask for some? I'm hungry and my stomach hurts."
"It's not fit for us to beg. It would be better to starve. But don't worry. Tomorrow we will go to the home of Sitamma. She never sends away those who are hungry."
"Why is Sitamma the only one we can ask?"
"Because she treats her guests with respect and never expects anything in return for her charity."
Once the family had fallen asleep, Sitamma began to stir. "Get up, get up!" she whispered to the snoring cart driver. "We must leave right away!"
"What is the rush? If you have waited for 40 years to go Varanasi, you can surely wait one more day," the driver sleepily said. "We can't travel at night anyway. The road is filled with bandits and wild animals."
"I cannot wait." Sitamma firmly replied.
"Grandmother, do you want to die in a ditch tonight or die in Varanasi in a week?"
"Get up this instant! I have paid you to drive me and we are leaving!" And with that, the two travelers stole into the night.
With the first rays of dawn, the starving family awoke and set out eagerly in the direction of Sitamma's village, unaware that the one they were looking for had been lying but a few feet away.
The family traveled the same rough and wild road as Sitamma, the whole way the children crying from hunger, their mother and father struggling to soothe them despite their own wretched condition. By evening they reached Sitamma's village and after a few inquiries found the dirt path that led to her home.
Seeing the darkened little house, the father despaired: `Is that a candle light in the window or is it the reflection of the moon? Do I hear the clanging of a pot or is that the sound of a cowbell?'
The mother feared, `She's not home. If she is, will she receive us? Have we come all this way for my children to die of hunger.'
Before the father could knock on the door and end the family's suspense, it swung open. The fragrant smell of dal and rice greeted them.
"Come in! Come in! I have just finished cooking and was hoping that you would join me tonight," Sitamma cheerfully said.
If they had not tried to conceal their tears of gratitude, the family might have observed that Sitamma's sari was frayed and sullied from the dust of the road. If they were not so fatigued, the family might have noticed that Sitamma was trembling with exhaustion from having spent the night being bounced and bruised in the bullock cart and then having to cook this meal. If they were not so hungry, the family might have seen that Sitamma's cupboard and garden were bare, and that she had taken the shame of begging upon herself from her neighbors so that they could eat.

Sitamma did not die in Varanasi. It was reported, however, that upon her death, a great light burst forth from the roof of her house and shot up into the heavens.

Courtesy: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Hinduism/2000/03/The-Guest-Is-God-The-Hospitality-Of-A-Hindu-Saint.aspx