-: Hindu Temples :-
| Mahakaleswar | Bhimashankara | Kedarnath |
| Somnath | Mallikarjuna | Omkaresswar |
| Nagneswar | Trayembakeswar | Rameshwaram |
| Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga | Kashi Vishwanath | Grishneswar |
Shri Mallikarjuna
12 Jyotirlingam of Lord Shankar
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Deities: Mallikarjuna
(Shiva)
Location: Srisailam, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh
Best time to visit: All year around
Festival & Event: Mahashivaratri
“Jay Mallikarjuna! Jay Mallikarjuna”
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.
Legend:
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 place on Amavasya (No moon
day) and Poornima (full Moon day) 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 Shivalinga. 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’s story can be seen carved out.
Location and
Development:
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.
The kings of the Vijaya Nagar Dynasty too built a Temple, Tower, Portico and a pond. Ahelyadevi Holkar, a great devotee of Siva built a strong bathing wharf consisting of 852 steps on the banks of the Patalganga.
Earlier, this part of the Shaila mountains was an unreachable tough terrain and fraught with danger. Even then, devotees, with their sheer will power, used to reach there in large numbers. Hiranyakashipa, Narada, Pandavas, Shri Ram are some of the great mythological personalities who have visited this holy shrine.
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