Ettipothala is a place where there is a very ancient temple – probably Tretayuga – of Lord Dattatreya with Ekamukhi. It is the very few places where Dattatreya idol has only one face instead of three as usual. This place is approximately 15 Kms away from Nagarjuna Sagar Dam towards Vinukona and Macherla in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh. The Lord Datta here is the main worship god for Lambadi Tribal people around this place. They will believe the Lord and offer prayers and sevas to him without knowing any mantras.
Ethipothala word is from YATHI (SAGE) TAPOSTHAL(PLACE WHERE YATHIS PERFORMED PENANCE). So it is YATHI-THAPOSTHAL. There as many caves near the water falls which prove the fact that many rishis and Yathis did penance here. The same thing is displayed on boards at this place. There is a network of caves that is supposed to have a path leading up to Srisailam. There are some Buddhist sites that are worth visiting.
Nagarjunasagar Dam is 150 Kms away from the city HYDERABAD. After crossing the dam and travelling 6-7 kms on MACHERLA ROAD there is a board displaying the route to Ethipothala Falls on the left hand side of the road. 166KM from Hyderabad.
Situated on the Chandravanka River, the Ethipothala Falls is a 70 feet high cascade of fresh water . The waterfall is a combination of three streams namely, the Chandra Vanka stream on Macherla, Surya bhaga stream on Nagarjuna hill and Krishna river of Nagarjuna sagar.Hence,it is like a Triveni sangama. The sight of the waterfalls as it cascades down a number of steps is a wonderful sight immediately after the monsoons. Just adjacent to the falls is located DattaGuru’s Temple.
This too is a siddhakshetram. The Dattamandiram is atop a small hillock. The Datta is in His Unmatta state(Unmatta state is a blissfully intoxicated state). Below the hillock is the Madhumathy Devi Alayam. The Uttaranga mantras for Anushtup are Madhumati Mahavidya and Sri Datta Sahasrakshari
It is very rareto find such a Mandira wherein both Lord Dattatreya and Goddess Madhumathy devi are together. Yogalaxmi devi is there in the form of Madhumathi devi here.The rule here is that first one must have a Darshan of the Goddess and then have Datta-darshana.
Madhurmathi devi context is also recited in the seventh section of the fourth chapter from the Thaithreeya collection of Krishna Yajur Veda. It is is part of the Sri Rudram Chamakam, a Vedic hymn dedicated to Lord Shiva. Specifically, it appears in the Chamakam section, which is a prayer for blessings and prosperity. The phrase “iḍā’ devahūr-manu’r” translates to “Iḍā, who is invoked by the gods and Manu”. Iḍā is a divine female figure associated with sustenance and nourishment in Vedic cosmology.
ॐ इडा॑ दॆव॒हूर्-मनु॑र्-यज्ञ॒नीर्-बृह॒स्पति॑रुक्थाम॒दानि॑ शग्ंसिष॒द्-विश्वॆ॑-दॆ॒वाः सू॓क्त॒वाचः॒ पृथि॑विमात॒र्मा मा॑ हिग्ंसी॒र्-म॒धु॑ मनिष्यॆ॒ मधु॑ जनिष्यॆ॒ मधु॑ वक्ष्यामि॒ मधु॑ वदिष्यामि॒ मधु॑मतीं दॆ॒वॆभ्यॊ॒ वाच॒मुद्यासग्ंशुश्रूषॆ॒ण्या॓म् मनु॒ष्यॆ॓भ्य॒स्तं मा॑ दॆ॒वा अ॑वन्तु शॊ॒भायै॑ पि॒तरॊஉनु॑मदन्तु ॥ ॐ शान्तिः॒ शान्तिः॒ शान्तिः॑ ॥
In English:
Oṃ iḍā’ devahūr-manu’r-yajஉjanīr-bṛhaspati’rukthāmadāni’ śagṃsiṣad-viśve’-devāḥ sū”ktavācaḥ pṛthi’vimātarmā mā’ higṃsīr-madhu’ maniṣye madhu’ janiṣye madhu’ vakṣyāmi madhu’ vadiṣyāmi madhu’matīṃ devebhyo vācamudyāsagṃśuśrūṣeṇyā”m manuṣye”bhyastaṃ mā’ devā a’vantu śobhāyai’ pitaronu’madantu || oṃ śāṃtiḥ śāṃtiḥ śānti’ḥ ||
In this kshetra, Dattaguru is fulfilling the desires in the form of Swapna(dreams), Sparsha(touch), Drishya(vision) and vachasa vidhana. This kshetra is an ANANDA NILAYA for Poorna yoga and Paripoorna yoga.The form of Dattatreya in this kshetra is same as in Dhyana sloka of Dattatreya.
We can see the temple dedicated to Lord Ranganatha Swamy in the same place.
