Srikurmam Temple

Srikurmam, a town on the Nagavali river in Srikakulam district, is known for its temple to Vishnu as Kurma, the tortoise incarnation, held to be the only self-manifested shrine to this form. It goes back to the Eastern Ganga dynasty and grew under the Suryavanshi Gajapatis, whose descendants at Vizianagaram still act as custodians. Legend ties it to King Swetha Chakravarti, whom Vishnu cured after cutting the Swetha Pushkarini tank with his Sudarshan Chakra.

The temple has two flagstaffs, at the east and the west, and a sanctum roof shaped like an eight-petalled lotus; devotees may step into the sanctum itself. The black sandstone Kurmanatha idol, about 2.5 feet tall, looks yellow from sandalwood paste. Near the entrance, a tortoise park keeps around 255 star tortoises, which devotees feed with gongura leaves.