area small European church and cemetery in the village. What looks like a town wall and is pierced by the road entering the place is really only the bank of the old railway constructed to bring materials from the quarry to the river for the building of the anicut.
Dowlaishweram possesses considerable religious interest for Hindus. The name Dowlaishweram is derived from that of the neighbouring hill Daulagiri. There, it is said, a saint named Nárada used to live; and he is credited with the foundation of the Vaishnavite temple of Janárdhanasvámi on the hill, as well as of many other shrines to the same god in the villages on the river bank in this and the Rámachandrapuram taluk. That in Dowlaishweram has an annual festival lasting six days in February or March. A cave on the side of the hill is supposed to be the mouth of a subterranean passage leading to Benares. In it is a stone image called Konda Nivásudu or Santána Gópálasvámi, which is visited by women who desire to have children. The temple of Anjanéya contains two rávi trees said to have been planted by Ráma and Síta respectively; and there are two footsteps in the rock there which are supposed to be those of these two deities. Dowlaishweram is in consequence sometimes called Ráma páda kshétram, 'the holy place of Ráma's feet.' The sanctity of the village is also enhanced by the fact that it is the last place at which the waters of the Gódávari flow down united and undiminished, and by a fanciful legend that 108 Siva temples lie buried somewhere or other in the neighbourhood. The result is that Dowlaishweram is one of the holiest of the bathing-places along this holy river, and is thronged by pilgrims during the pushkaram festival.1[1]
A feast to the village goddess Mutyálamma is held in the village once every three years. A buffalo is sacrificed and afterwards votive offerings of pots of buttermilk are presented to the goddess, she is taken outside the village, and the pots are emptied there. The head of the buffalo and a pot of its blood are also carried round the village by a Mála, and a pig is sacrificed in an unusual and cruel manner. It is buried up to its neck and cattle are driven over it until it is trampled to death. This is supposed to ensure the health of men and cattle in the ensuing year.
A few industries flourish in the place. Two Kamsalas make brass and bronze vessels, and about 25 persons of various castes do really good wood-carving. The place is also known for its architects, who are said to be employed
- ↑ 1 See Chapter I, p. 6.
