Sri Sailam : Jyotirlinga ( Lord Shiva) Andhara Pradesh India

Sri Sailam Jyotirlinga Picture

Significance: This is one of the greatest Saivite shrines in India and it constitutes one of the 12 Jyotirlingam shrines of Shiva. The presiding deities here are Mallikarjuna (Shiva) and Bhramaramba (Devi).

Temple of Sri Sailam Andhara Pradesh, Sri Sailam Jyotirlinga Photo, Picture

This is an ancient temple with fort like walls, towers and a rich endowment of sculptural work. This huge temple built in the Dravidian style with lofty towers and sprawling courtyards is one of the finest specimens of Vijayanagar architecture.

Sri Sailam Jyotirlinga Andhara Pradesh, Lord Shiva Jyotirlinga


The Satavahanas of the 2nd century AD have referred to it and the Saivite Tamil Saints have sung its glory. The Kakatiyas and the Vijayanagar kings (esp Krishnadevaraya) have made several endowments here. This temple is of immense religious, historical and architectural significance.

Srisailam is located in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. This whole area is full of forests of Kadali, Bilva trees, mountain ranges and Patalaganga (Krishnaveni river). All of them echo from these joyous voices of devotees.

Puranic History of Srisailam

When Kumar Kartikeya returned to Kailash after completing his trip around the earth, he heard about Ganesha�s marriage from Narada. This angered him. In spite of being restrained by his parents, he touched their feet in obeisance and left for Krounch Mountain. Parvati was very distraught at having to be away from her son, implored Lord Shiva to look for their son. Together, they went to Kumara. But, Kumara went away a further three Yojanas, after learning about his parents coming after him to Krouncha Mountain. Before embarking on a further search for their son on each mountain, they decided to leave a light on every mountain they visited. From that day, that place came to be known as JyotirLinga Mallikarjuna. It is believed that Shiva and Parvati visit
this palce on Amavasya (No moon day) and (full Moon day) Pournami, respectively.

Visiting this JyotirLinag not only blesses one with
innumerable wealth, but also name and fame and fulfils all the desires.

Once, a princess named Chandravati decided to go to the Jungles to do penance and meditation. She chose Kadali Vana for this purpose. One day, she witnessed a miracle. A Kapila cow was standing under a Bilwa tree and milk was flowing from all of its four udders, sinking into the ground. The cow kept doing this as a routine chore everyday.

Chandravati dug up that area and was dumb founded at what she saw. There was a self-raising Swyambhu SivaLinga. It was bright and shining like the sun rays, and looked like it was burning, throwing flames in all directions. Chandravati prayed to Siva in this JyotirLinga. She built a huge Shiva Temple there. Lord Shankara was very pleased with
her. Chandravati went to Kailash wind borne. She received salvation and Mukti. On one of the stone-inscriptions of the temple, Chandravati story can be seen carved out.

Location and Development of mallikarjuna swamy temple

Shaila Mallikarjuna�s holy place is located on the banks of River Krishna. Here River Krishna is in the form of Patalaganga (underground spring). Lakhs of devotees take a holy dip here and then go for the Darshan of the JyotirLinga.

During the Karnataka Movement, Chatrapati Shivaji used to come to take a Darshan
of the JyotirLinga during the Maharatri. He built a tower on the right side of the Temple and also opened a free-meal center.

 

Antiquity The origins of this temple are buried in antiquity. The Skanda Purana has a chapter dedicated to it. The great religious leader Aadi Sankara is said to have visited this shrine and composed his immortal Sivananda Lahiri here. Praise of this temple has been sung by the Tamil Saint poets of the past millennium.
The shrine dedicated to Bhramaramba is considered to be of great significance. Legend has it that Durga is said to have assumed the shape of a bee and worshipped Shiva here, and chose this place as her abode.

Temples in the vicinity:
1. Tripurantakam to the east of Sree Sailam.
2. Siddavatam of Cuddapah district to the South
3. Alampur Navabhrama temples in Mahboobnagar district to the West
4. Umamaheswaram in Mahboobnagar district to the North.
5. Paladhara Panchadara - the spot where Adi Sankara is said to have meditated.
6. Hatakeswaram: another Shiva temple near Paladhara Panchadara where the lingam was originally made of gold.
7. Sakthi Ganapathi temple: It is considered important to visit this temple before visiting Sri Sailam.
8. Kailasa Dwaram: The main entrance to Sri Sailam for those trekking to the temple
9. Sikharam: There is a hill temple dedicated to Shiva at a height of 2850 feet above sea level in the Nallamalai hills
10. Patalaganga: is where the bathing ghats associated with Sri Sailam are located. (Krishna river).
Tripurantakam, Siddavatam, Alampura and Umamaheswaram are considered to be the four gateways to Sri Sailam.