The Kodanda Ramalayam temple is a tribute to all the devotees of lord Sri Rama. It was constructed around a 75-year-old Hanuman temple on an elevated hill in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, by Smt Saroja Harnur and her late husband Sri Sham Rao Harnur, a senior journalist and former bureau chief of The Press Trust of India, Hyderabad. The temple was first consecrated on 26th January 2001 on the auspicious Magha Shuddha Dwitiya day by Sri Sathyatma Tirtha of Sri Uttaradi Mutt.
The temple's main deities are the Rama Parivar - Lord Sri Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita matha housed in the main sanctum sanctorum with a steady gaze on Hanuman housed in a sanctum sanctorum directly in front of the Rama Parivar. Another sanctum sanctorum houses the Shiva Parivar with Lord Shiva, Parvathi, and Ganesh. Lord Shiva here is also called Malhari Marthanda and is seen with Parvathi on a horseback. Lord Ganesh and a Shiva Linga form a part of this enclosure, and over the years, several US visa seekers have performed the Gakara Ganapati Puja here with devotion and successfully obtained their visas.
The temple also has a beautiful Navagraha Alayam with dampathi (husband-wife) Navagraha deities, rarely seen in any other Navagraha temple in India. A separate area next to the Navagraha temple has the Ashtalakshmi Vrindavan, where Tulasi vivaha is performed on a grand scale every year. Beautifully lit bright diyas shining throughout the premises every year during the evenings of Kartika Masam are a feast for your eyes.
A 100-year-old Ashwatha tree is on the premises of the temple wherein there is an enclosure for Sri Subramanya Swamy. Devotees having Naga dosha regularly perform pujas here.
Adjoining the Rama temple is a Shirdi Sai Mandir in which resides a four-foot Sai Baba captured and sculpted by the famous sculptors of Pandey Murthi Gharana of Jaipur who did the original Shirdi deity in Shirdi.
Sri Kodanda Ramalayam temple has been adopted by Sri Pejavara Adhokshaja Mutt of Udupi and is maintained and operated by Sri Sham V Harnur Charitable Trust. If you are in Hyderabad or visiting Hyderabad, please visit the temple to get the blessings of Lord Rama and also experience the peace and serenity of the premises.