Gandi Kshetram

Gandi Kshetram, also called the Sri Veeranjaneya or Abhayahasta Anjaneya Temple, is a Hanuman temple at Gandi village in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, 34 km from Pulivendula. It stands on the banks of the Papaghni, where the river squeezes between hills of the Eastern Ghats; gandi is Telugu for such a narrow outlet for water. The state Endowments Department runs the temple.

Legend traces the shrine to the Ramayana. Rama, resting here as the guest of Vayu, is said to have sketched Hanuman on a rock with his arrow, leaving the little finger of the left hand undrawn. Vyasaraja later carved an idol over the drawing, but when he tried to finish that finger it is said to have broken and bled. Another belief holds that a festoon of golden flowers, hung by Vayu to greet Rama on his way to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana, can be seen by those near death.