MALLAKARJUNA SWAMY TEMPLE
MALLAKARJUNA SWAMY TEMPLE shrIshailashRinge vibudhatisange tuladritunge.api muda vasantam |
tamarjunam mallikapUrvamekam namami samsarasamudrasetum ||
Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy is one of the twelve Jyothirlingas of Lord Shiva situated at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh state, India. STORY OF MALLIKARJUNA SWAMY: When Shiva and Parvathi decided to find suitable brides for their sons, Ganesha and kaarthikeya
argued as to who is to get wedded first. Lord Shiva bade that the one
who goes round the world in Pradakshinam could get married first. By the
time Lord Muruga could go round the world on his vahana, Lord Ganesha
went round his parents 7 times (for according to Sastras, going in
pradakshinam round one's parents is equivalent to going once round the
world (Boopradakshinam). Lord Siva got Siddhi & Buddhi, the
daughtersof Viswaroopan married to Lord Ganesha. Muruga on his return
was enraged and went away to stay alone on Mount Kravunja in the name of
Kumarabrahmachari. On seeing his father coming over to pacify him, he
tried to move to another place, but on the request of the Devas, stayed
close by. The place where Lord Siva and Parvathi stayed came to be known
as Sri Sailam. Lord Siva visits Lord Muruga on Amavasai day &
Parvathi Devi on Pournami. The temple is situated facing East. The
centre mandapam has several pillars, with a huge idol of Nadikeswarar.
Mahashivratri is the main festival celebrated at Srisailam Mallikarjuna Swamy temple.
Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple:
The Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple located in Srisailam is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples dedicated to Lord Shiva.
History
Srisailam |
Entrance to Srisaila Devasthanam |
Name |
Proper name: |
Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple |
Location |
Country: |
India |
State: |
Andhra Pradesh |
Location: |
Srisailam |
| | |
---|
|
|
The origins of this temple have been lost in antiquity. The Skanda Purana
has a chapter called Srisaila Kandam dedicated to it, which points to
the ancient origin. This is confirmed by the fact that saints of the
past millennia have sung its praises. It is said that Adi Sankara visited this temple and at that time he composed his Sivananda Lahiri.
Srisailam is referenced in the ancient Hindu Puranas, and the epic Mahabharata.
Shiva's sacred bull Nandi is said to have performed penance at the
Mahakali temple till Shiva and Parvati appeared before him as
Mallikarjuna and Brahmaramba. The temple is one of the 12 hallowed jyotirlingas; Lord Rama himself installed the Sahasralinga, while the Pandavas lodged the Panchapandava lingas in the temple courtyard.
Heroic legends from the Mahabharata and Ramayana are sculpted in
stone on the temple walls and the Mahabharata epic refers to Srisailam
as Sri Parvata — the blessed hill. You can hear the buzzing of a bee
through a tiny hole in the Brahmaramba temple, where Parvati, in the form of a bee, slew the demon Mahisasura.
It gained prominence in the twelfth century due to the Sharana movement and Vachana Sahitya headed by Basavanna. According to legends one of the Srisailam caves is said to be the place where the most famous poet and social reformer Akka Mahadevi achieved salvation.
Gateways:
Tradition, literature as well as epigraphical sources state that the
sacred hill of Srisailam has four gateways in the four cardinal
directions namely,
- Tripuranthakam is in Prakasam District in the east where God Tripuranthakeswara Swamy and Goddess Tripurasundari Devi are presiding deities.
- Siddhavatam is located on the bank of the river Penna in
Kadapa District in the south where Jyothisideswara Swamy and Goddess
Kamakshi Devi are the presiding deities.
- Alampur
is on the bank of the river Tungabhadra in Mahaboobnagar District in
the west where Navabrahma Alayas, a group of nine temples of the
Chalukya period, are. This Kshetram is also the seat of Goddess
Jogulamba, one of the eighteen Mahasakthis.
- Umamaheswaram
is located in Rangapur, Achampeta Mandal, Mahaboobnagar District in the
North where God Umamaheswara Swamy and Goddess Umamaheswari Devi are
the presiding deities.
Secondary gateways
Besides the main gateways, there are four Secondary Gateways in the four corner directions:
- Eleswaram: Located in Mahaboobnagar District now submerged in
the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in the northeast with Eleswara Swamy and
Katyani as presiding deities.
- Somasila: Located on the bank of the river Penna in the southeast with Skanda Someswara as the presiding deity.
- Pushpagiri: Located in Kadapa District in the southwest with Santhana Malleswara as presiding deity.
- Sangameswaram: Located at the confluence of the River Krishna
and Tungabhadra in Kurnool District in the northwest and submerged at
Srisailam Dam with Sangameswara as presiding deity. This temple has been re-built at Alampur.
Other places of interest
Akka Mahadevi caves
During the 12th century A.D. this cave appeared to have attained its
present name after the famous ascetic, lyricist and philosopher, Akka Mahadevi
who hailed from Karnataka. It is believed that Akka Mahadevi did
penance in this cave and worshiped the Sivalinga that naturally existed
in the deep and dark end of the cave.
The A.P. Tourism Department has arranged motor boats for visitors to see these caves.
Srisailam Dam
Srisailam Dam is built on the Krishna River
and is 512 m long. It is set amidst beautiful natural scenery — ghats,
cliffs, craggy ridges, plateaus and dense forests. It has twelve crest
gates to hold a maximum water level of 885 ft (270 m). It has a live
storage of 274 thousand million cubic feet. This reservoir was
originally designed for hydropower generation only but was later
converted to a multipurpose facility for water supply and irrigation.
Due to the construction of Srisailam Hydro Electric Project across
river Krishna, nearly 102 villages in Kurnool and Mahboobnagar districts
along the banks of the rivers Krishna, Tungabhadra, Bhavanasi and their
tributaries were submerged.
Srisailam Sanctuary
Srisailam also boasts of one of the largest tiger reserves in India.
This sanctuary covers an area of 3568 km². The terrain is rugged and
winding gorges slice through the area. It is covered by dry deciduous
forests with scrub and bamboo thickets.
These forests provide shelter to a range of animals like the tiger,
leopard, deer, sloth bear, hyena, jungle cat, palm civet, bonnet macaque
and pangolin.
The down waters of Srisailam Dam is home to a variety of crocodiles.
The local government supports a breeding program which has been highly
successful.
Hemareddy Mallamma Temple at Srisailam
HEmareddy Mallamma Temple at Srisailam
was inaugurated on 26 May 2010. It was built at Srisailam by Karnataka
Veerashaiva Reddy Samaj. In the adjoining ashram, one can see the place
where she lived with cattle. The place is visited by lakhs of pilgrims
who offer prayers at this temple. The temple is situated about a half
kilometer on the western side of the Mallikarjuna Temple.
Mallela Theertham
Mallela Theertham is a waterfall in the middle of the dense forest.
It lies 50 km before Srisailam; take a turn to the destination and drive
on a bumpy, muddy road which is unmotorable during the rainy season and
around 250 steps down the valley to the waterfall.
|