Sri Kurmam Temple

Sri Kurmam, in Srikurmam village near Srikakulam, is a Vishnu temple where the Lord is worshipped as Kurmanatha — the tortoise, his second avatar — with the consort Kurmanayaki. It is one of only a very small number of temples in India where Vishnu is venerated in this form, and its sanctum is unusual in holding both a tortoise image and an anthropomorphic figure of Vishnu with Lakshmi. The temple's inscriptional record goes back to around the 11th–12th centuries; tradition and the temple's own inscriptions hold that Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, guided by disciples of Ramanuja, established Vaishnava worship here. Its most distinctive physical features are a west-facing main deity — rare in Hindu temple building — two flag posts (dhwaja stambhas) instead of the usual one, and a hall of stone pillars carved from single blocks, many bearing old inscriptions, in a mix of Kalinga and Dravidian styles.

• Stays near the shrine — so elders aren't driven back and forth at 4am.
• Private transfers — pick-up from your door, not a meeting point.
• Meals that suit the group — including pure-veg and fasting requirements.
• Group travel — 4 people or 40, one coordinator, one itinerary.
• Someone on the phone — when you're in a queue three states from home.

Most of the people we send on yatra are over 55, or booking for parents who are. We plan shorter driving days, stays within walking distance where the shrine allows it, and we'll tell you honestly if a site involves a long climb or a trek before you pay — not after.

All pilgrimage destinations