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The Legend
of Puttaparthi is a hamlet that has carved out a niche for itself in the
hearts of the people of the area, by legends that sanctify the memory and
a history that inspires the young. The name is derived from 'Putta',
which means an ant-hill in which a snake has taken up its abode
and 'Parthi', which is a modified form of Vardhini or multiplier. A
thrilling legend endeavors to explain the origin of this place-name to the
curious inquirer.
Long, long ago, the village was known as
Gollapalli or Home of Cowherds, a designation reminiscent of the leelas of
Sri Krishna and redolent with music of His Flute. It was the abode of
prosperous gopalas and the cattle of this place were sleek, strong, and
beautiful to behold. The cows yielded copious milk, thick and sweet beyond
compare: every home was rich in butter and ghee! One day, a cowherd
noticed that his favorite cow had no milk in its udder when she returned
from the grazing grounds on the hills and when he later secretly watched
her movements, he was astonished at her behavior. For, she slid out of the
shed, leaving her tiny calf to nose about with her sisters and proceeded
in a bee-line to an ant-hill on the out-skirts of the village. He followed
her to this rendezvous, only to witness an even more astounding spectacle!
A cobra issued from the mound, raised itself on its tail and applying its
lips gently to her teats drank the milk, in glee! Enraged at the loss to
which he was subjected by this wily trick, the villager lifted a stone
over his head and taking good aim, heaved it right on top of the cobra.
Writhing in pain, the serpent threw an angry curse on all the gopalas of
the village and, its last words foretold that the place will soon be full
of ant-hills which will multiply endlessly. And, so it happened, soon! The
cattle declined in numbers and health; they could not be raised
successfully at Gollapalli any longer. Ant-hills spread all over the place
and their name had soon to be changed to Valmikipura, for Valmika in
Sanskrit means an ant-hill or Puttaparthi in common parlance. Of course,
this gave some satisfaction to the elders of the village, since Valmiki is
no other than the immortal saint who sang the story of Sri Rama and showed
the mankind the path of perfection.
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 The villagers still show,
as proof of this tragic legend, the very stone, thick and round, with a
slight jam on one side, which the enraged cowherd aimed at the
wonder-snake. The stone has a long reddish streak over it, which is
pointed out as the mark of the cobra's blood. In fact, this stone is
worshipped as Gopalaswami, the Lord as Cowherd, probably in an effort to
avert the curse and help the cattle to prosper. There is a temple in the
village, the Gopalaswami Temple, built by the pallegars of old, where the
stone is installed, and generations of women have bowed reverentially
before it.
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