Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple, Andhara Pradesh

Address

Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple, Andhara Pradesh
Palakollu,
West Godavari District,
Andhara Pradesh – 534260.

Moolavar

Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy

Amman

Parvati

Introduction

Ksheerarama is one of the five Pancharama Kshetras that are sacred to the god Shiva. The temple is located in Palakollu of West Godavari in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Shiva is known locally as Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy. The Sivalinga was established by Vishnu. It is believed that staying one day in Kshirarama is equivalent to staying one year in Varanasi. It is one of the centrally protected monuments of national importance. It is one of the five powerful Shiva temples in Southern India that form the “Pancharama Kshetram”.

Puranic Significance

According to the inscriptions, the temple was built in 918 A.D. by the King Bheemeswara of Chalukya Dynasty. The main deity inside the Sanctum Sanctorum has a height of 2 feet. It is inscribed that Great poets Nanayya, Thikkana, and Srinatha visited this shrine.

Pancharama Kshetrams: According to Amareshwara Skanda Purana, Lord Shiva who was pleased with the austerities performed by Tharaka presented him with the Amruthalingam. He further assured Tharaka invincibility against enemies, from defeat and death, so long as the Lingam was in his possession. Tharaka sported this Amrutha Lingam around his neck, and on the strength of the boon, wrought untold misery upon the Devas and other celestial beings. Lord Karthik, who led the deities to a battle against Tharaka, was unable to vanquish him even after using the most potent Shakti weapon on him. Much to the deity’s distress and mortification, though the weapon cut the demon into several pieces, they reunited to give life to Tharaka. An exasperated Karthik approached Lord Vishnu for help. Vishnu revealed to Karthik that in order to destroy the demon, he had to first break the Amrutha Lingam and also prevent the broken pieces from reuniting. Acting upon Lord Vishnu’s suggestions, Karthik used his Agni Asthra to break Taraka’s Lingam. The Lingam exploded into five pieces, tried to unify by chanting Omkara Nadha. At that very instant, Indra, Surya, Chandra and Vishnu himself, joined Karthik in fixing these broken pieces in the locations where they fell. Thus, were born the Pancharama (Pancha meaning five and Aarama meaning peace) Kshetrams, in five different areas of Andhra Pradesh — Amararama in Amaravati, Bhimeshwara in Draksharamam, Somarama in Bhimavaram, Ksheerarama in Palakkolu and Kumararama in Samalkot. It is believed that the worship of these Lingams, or mere darshan of these shrines, would bestow peace and bliss upon the devotees.

Etymology: According to legend, Upamanyu the son of sage Kaushik, requested Lord Shiva to grant him enough milk so that he can carry on the rituals in the temple. Lord Shiva filled the Ksheera Pushkarni Tank with the mythical milky ocean (Ksheera Sagaram). Hence this place is known with different names, Ksheerarama, Palakollu and Dugdhapovanam.

Association with Lord Rama: According to hearsay, Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman had worshipped Shiva at this spot. Once, Maharishi Agastya told Lord Rama that his complexion has become black after killing Ravana who was a Brahmin. In order to get rid of the black complexion, Lord Rama was advised to take a dip in the holy river and also install Shiva Lingas. After installation of various Shiva Lingas, Lord Rama, Goddess Sita and Lakshmana decided to visit Gosthani river to install Shiva Linga. Goddess Sita had asked Hanuman to acquire it. Hanuman couldn’t arrive on time and Sita made a Shiva Linga containing sand and snails. She did puja. When Hanuman saw this, he got disappointed. Hence Lord Ram assured Hanuman that first, devotees would pray in front of the Shiva Linga brought by him and then that of Sita’s.

Lord Vishnu installed Shiva Linga here: It is believed that Lord Vishnu installed the Siva Linga and Tripura Sundari

Special Features

The Shivalinga is milky white in color and is believed to be the tallest. In the temple mandapam there are 72 pillars made of black stone. Inside the Garbha Gruha (Sanctum), and Gokarneswara and Vigneshwara shrines are situated at the left and Kshiralingam is at the center. Subramanya Swamy and Janardhana Swamy shrines are located at the right, with Nandi at the centre. River Gosthani flows through Palakollu town and it meets with River Godavari place near Narsapur. From there, the river merges with the sea at Antarvedi. It is said that once this place was a thick forest with full of natural greenery.

The tower is one of the tallest among the temple towers in Andhra Pradesh. The height of the temple is 120 ft and 9 floors and was constructed during the Chalukya period during the reign of Chalukya Bheema. The Gostani River flows through Palakollu and there is a sangam (confluence) near Narsapur with the Godavari River. From here the river empties into the sea at Antarvedi. The Moola Virat (lingam), can be seen from the windows of the Garbha Gudiall on all four sides.

The temple complex has many shrines, including the Sun God (Kasi Vishweswara), Goddess Parvathi, Goddess Lakshmi, Nagareswara Lingam, Dundi Vigneswara, Veera Bhadra, Sapta Matruka, Kanaka Durga, Brahma, Saraswathi, Kumara Swamy, Kartikeya, Mahishasura Mardhini, Kala Bhairava, Naga sarpa, Nataraja, Dattatreya, Nageswara, Saneeswara, Radha Krishna, and Sankara.

Festivals

Mahasivaratri is an important festival when thousands of people offer prayers to seek the blessings of the Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy to attain Mukti.