Complete guide to visit the shrine Sri Mallikarjuna at Srisailam and its surrounding places
Srisailam is one of the most important pilgrim centers for devotees belonging to the Hindu religion in India. In this article, I gave various details about the location and mode of the visit of the shrine Mallikharjuna Swamy temple and other various pilgrim and interesting places to visit around Srisailam.
Srisailam is one of the most important religious and worshiped location for lakhs of Hindu devotees in India. This is the place where the holy shrine of Sri Mallikharjuna Swamy located and also a very important pilgrim places abode in its surroundings. Sri Mallikharjuna Swamy Temple, Sri Bhramarambha temple, Pathala Ganga, Phaladhara-Panchadhara at Hatakeswar, Isthakameswari Temple, Hatekeswara Temple, etc. are the most important pilgrim places that devotees most fondly visit. Nagarjuna-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, Akkamahadevi caves, Srisailam Dam are the other interesting places to visit in Srisailam.Sri Sakshi Ganapathi Swami Vari Temple
It is a small shrine situated 3 Km. on the way to the main shrine. In this temple, the deity Sakshi Ganapathi holding a book in the left hand and a kalam (Pen) on the right hand. It is the popular belief of people that Sakshi Ganapathi maintains a record of the devotees (Sakshyam or evidence) who visit the shrine. Sri Mallikharjuna Swamy Temple
It is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga and one of the 18 Sakti Peetha temples located on a mountain named Shri Shaila on the banks of Krishna River. Sri Sailam is the only temple in India where Jyotirlinga and Shaktipeetha are present in the same place and thus considered to be more powerful. The Sathavahanas, Ikshavakus, Pallavas, Vishnukundis, Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Reddy Kings, Vijayanagara Emperors, and Chatrapathi Shivaji are among the famous emperors who worshiped Sri Mallikharjuna Swamy. The Second Harihararaya of Vijayanagara Empire developed the Mukhamantapam and also a Gopuram on the Southern Side of the temple. The temple was built on the Dravidian style.
Sri Mallikharjuna Swamy Temple (Courtesy:-wikipedia.org)
The famous hill on which this temple is situated is also known as Siridhan, Srigiri, Sriparvatha, and Srinagam. The temple is situated 1354 ft. above sea level. There are two separate temple complexes present, one is Lord Mallikharjuna and the other is Goddess Bramarambha on this holy hill. The sanctity of this hill and temple was mentioned in the epics of Mahabharatha, Skanda Purana and in many religious scriptures. The temple will be overcrowded with lakhs of devotees during Karthheka Maasam and on holy Mahasivarathri day every year. People of the Hindu religion believe that visiting at least once this temple in their lifetime would earn 'Moksha' for them. The timings to visit this place is 5 AM to 3:30 PM and 6 PM to 10 PM.Paladhara Panchadhara
This beautiful spot is located just 4 Km. away from the main shrine. This spot is situated in a narrow valley from where streams of pure water gushing out with a musical note. These streams are popularly known as Paladhara Panchadhara in the local folk because these streams of water originate from the forehead (Phala-front face of Shiva) and it includes five aspects (Panchadhara) of Shiva. This stream of water flows uninterrupted in all seasons of the year. In Skandha Purana this flow of water was described as 'Bhogavathi' that actually joins Krishna river. It is very famous in local folk as this is the place where Hindu Guru Sri Adisankaracharya carried out his penance.Shikaresvara Temple
It is located at the highest point of the Nallamala hill called Shikharam. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and the devotees have to climb 150 steps to reach the temple. The temple has Garbha Griha, 16 pillared Mukhmandapam, and Antaralaya. People believe that the deity Lord Shiva of this temple has the power to wash away all sins and full fill all their wishes. From the highest point of this temple, people can have a beautiful panoramic view of the natural scenes, landscapes and gushing flow of River Krishna.Sri Isthakameswari Ammavari Temple
It is located 20 Km. away from the main temple in a forest area. The origin of this temple dates back to the 8th to 10th centuries. Devotees who visit this temple has to hire an auto or taxi to reach this temple. The Devi of this temple has four hands, in two hands having two lotus flowers, in the other two hands, one hand Shivalingam and the other hand Japamala. The deity is located inside a cave. Devotees can conduct pooja and Abhishekam inside the temple. One of the interesting things you can notice is when we keep kumkum on the forehead of Sri Isthakameswari Devi deity we can feel the human touch of the skin of deity.Pathala Ganga
It is located 1 Km. away from the main temple and is a sacred place in the backwaters of river Krishna. Devotees take a holy dip in this place before they visit the main temple. From this place, we can have an amazing view of the Srisailam dam with its food gates, magnificent mountains, and lush green Nallamala forest. There is a facility for tourists to have a beautiful boat ride to reach Akkamahadevi Caves from here. To reach Pathala Ganga there is a Ropeway facility that is also available from Haritha Hotel.
Pathala Ganga (Courtesy:-wikipedia.org)Akkamahadevi Caves
These caves are natural formation that has been in existence some millions of years back in their pristine form. The caves are situated just 12 Km. away from the Srisailam. A Shivalinga that was naturally existed in these caves became more popular among the devotees. In 12 Century AD, a famous lyricist from Karnataka Akkamahadevi stayed in the caves worshiped the Shivalinga and carried penance and thus the caves became popular as Akkamahadevi Caves. Private and government-organized boats carry people from Pathala Ganga to Akkamahadevi Caves and bringing back to the same place. Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve Valley
It is situated 30 Km. away from Srisailam, the largest tiger reserve in the country that spreads across 3568 Sq. Km. It was declared as a sanctuary and it was later incorporated into the Tiger project. The Forest Department is organizing a Jeep Safari from the entry point on Hyderabad to the viewpoint of Farahabad. Tourists can find the Bengal Tigers in this Safari ride. Indian leopard, chital, sambar deer, blackbuck, sloth bear, Indian pangolin, chinkara, Indian python, Naja naja, Bengal monitor, Indian Star tortoise, etc. are the other animals one may find in this Safari Ride.Tribal Museum, Srisailam
It is located one Km. away from Srisailam temple. This museum showcases the tribal culture of this region. This museum exhibits a good collection of daily use articles of tribal, articles of labor, weapons, herbal products, herbal medicines, Ayurvedic oils, statues of their Gods, musical instruments, toys, etc. The images of dinosaurs, tribal huts, children play areas, etc. will attract the tourists.Hatekeswara Temple
It is located 3 Km. away from the main shrine in a small village Hatkeswaram. As Lord Shiva can be seen in a small piece of clay tile or broken piece of the clay pot (Utti in Telugu) in this temple, the temple is popularly known as the Hatekeswar temple. The term 'Utti' in course of time changed into Hatekeswar. It was the place where Hindu religious Guru Sri Adisankaracharya resided. There are buses every 30 minutes to visit this place very comfortably.
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I am planning to visit this jyotirlinga next year. It would be great if you share some more information like cheap and good hotels and restaurants nearby.