Sripada Vallabha was an Indian
guru of Dattatreya tradition who is regarded as an incarnation of Lord
Dattatreya. He is considered one of the first complete Avatars (incarnations)
of the deity Dattatreya in Kali Yuga.
Birth and Early Life
Sripada Vallabha was born and
lived in Pithapuram, a town in present-day Andhra Pradesh in India. The
grandparents of Sripada Vallabha belonged to the Malayadri village of Guntur
District in the Palnadu area of Andhra Pradesh state in India. Malladi Bapanna
Avadhanulu of Harithasa gothra is the maternal grandfather of Sripada. His wife
Rajamamba also belonged to a scholar’s family. Her brother was Malladi Sridhara
avadhanlu belonged to the same place.
Once the two scholars went to
‘Ainavilli’ a remote area in Godavari mandal, and there they conducted a yagna
where they actually made Lord Ganapati appear during the time of Poornahuti, which was witnessed by all
the people who attended the ‘yagna’. Lord Ganapati had received the Poornahuti with his trunk and to the
astonishment of all the people, disclosed that he will take birth as Sripada Vallabha
on Ganesh Chaturdhi. Later both the scholars went to Pithapuram village and
settled there.
Kuravapura – A Devine Place
Sripada Vallabha took sanyas at
the age of 16 years, and lived in his physical form only until the age of 30.
Some of the noted holy places that Sripada Vallabha visited during his life
time are -Varanasi (Kashi), Badarikashram, Gokarna, Srisailam and Kuravapura.
Shripad Vallabha stayed in Kurupuram much of his life. The religious
significance of Kurupuram is duly mentioned in the book Shri Guru Charitra and other holy books associated with Shri
Dattatreya. Shripad Vallabha did many leelas here. It is believed that the
Avatar Sripada Vallabha is 'Chiranjeevi' (immortal) and that he took 'Jalasamadhi'
in Kuravapura or Kurugaddi, a river island on river Krishna near Raichur. He
disappeared since then as a human but still exists in 'Tejorup' (in Pure energy
form). On the opposite bank of the River is Vallabhapuram belonging to
Telangana state which is also sacred.
Shripad Vallabha jayanti is celebrated by his devotees mainly in parts of Karnataka and some parts of Andhra Pradesh on this day.