Srisailam

Map:

Srisailam : is a holy town and mandal, situated in Nallamala Hills of Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located on the banks of River Krishna, about 232 km south of Hyderabad.

This is the entrance of Srisailam saying welcome to Srisailam

In the entrance of srisailam, there is a statue of Nandi in the park.

Lord shiva in the form of Dakshina murthy, with Vedas and veena in his hands. He is controlling Ahamkara purusha. Rishis learning gnana from him.

Lord shiva and Parvathi with their son Kumara swamy. Kumaraswamy is the Rishi of Srisaila kshetram.

Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple dedicated to Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy (a form of Shiva) is one of the 12 Jyothirlingas and Devi Bhramaramba (a form of Parvathi) is one of the 18 Mahasakthis is located here. The unique feature of this kshetram is the combination of Jyothirlingam and Mahasakthi in one campus, which is very rare and only one of its kind.

A view from top

Nandhi

Night view

Sculptures

Other Jyothirlingams are located at: Somnath, Ujjain, Omkareshwar, Kedarnath, Bhimashankar, Varanasi, Tryambakeshwar, Vaidyanath, Nageshwar, Rameshwaram, Grishneshwar.

Srisailam is one of the 18 Sakthi Peethas. It is said that Sakthi Peethams gives will power, knowledge power, and work power to its devotees. A story was taled about the origin of Sakthi Peethas. Shakti or Satidevi is the daughter of Daksa and Prasuti, and the wife of Lord Shiva. Daksa decided to hold a yagna to which he invited neither his daughter nor son-in-law. Shakti, requested Lord Shiva that they should attend the yagna which was being performed by her father. Shiva refused as they were not invited. But Shiva allowed his wife to go to attend as per her wishes.Neither parents nor sisters pay attention to her. Shakti felt insulted and immolate in fire. Lord shiva knew this and came to Yagna. He placed Shakti's body on his shoulder and began a mad dance through the three universes. His dance threatened to destroy all creation and the gods became distraught at this prospect. The gods approached Vishnu to restrain Shiva. Lord Vishnu with his Sudarshan Chakra cut the dead body of Shakti into 18 pieces. These were thrown and was become “Sakthi Peethas”. Like that Asthadasa (18) Sakthi Peethas came in to existence. It was said that as per puranas sakthi was formed in different places called with different names. They are as follows:

Part of the body fallen              Place                       Name of Sakthi

1.Groin                              Trimkomali(Srilanka)               Sankari devi
2.Back Part                       Kanchi(Tamilnadu)                  Kamakshi devi
3.Stomach part                  Praddyumnam(Gujarat)            Sri srunkala devi
4.Head hairs                      Mysore(Karnataka)                 Chamundeswari devi
5.Upper teeth rows           Alampur(Andhra Pradesh)        Jogulamba devi
6.Neck part                      Srisailam(Andhra Pradesh)        Bhramramba devi
7.Eyes                               Sholapur(Maharastra)               Mahalakmi devi
8.Right hand                      Nanded(Maharastra)                 Ekavenika devi
9.Upper lip                        Ujjain(Madya pradesh)             Mahakalai devi
10.Left hand                      Pithapuram(Andhra Pradesh)     Puruhutika devi
11.Navel                           Cuttack(Orissa)                         Girija devi
12.Left cheek                    Draksharamam(A.P)                  Manikyamba devi
13.Vulva                           Gauhathi(Assam)                        Kamarupa devi
14.Fingers(hand)               Prayaga(Uttar Pradesh)              Madhaveswari devi
15.Head part                    Jwala(Himaclapradesh)               Vaishnavi devi
16.Breast part                  Gaya(Bihar)                                 Sarvamangala devi
17.Wrist                           Varanasi(Uttar Pradesh)              Visalaksi devi
18.Right Hand                  Kashmir                                       Saraswathi devi


Srisailam Dam, located about 245 km from Hyderabad is a multipurpose dam has been built across River Krishna and caters to the irrigation and power needs of the state. It is set amidst beautiful natural scenery - ghats, cliffs, craggy ridges, plateaus and dense forests. It is 512m long and 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 multi-purpose facility for water supply and irrigation Due to the construction of Srisailam Hydro Electric Project across river Krishna, nearly 102 villages in both Kurnool and Mahboobnagar Districts located along the banks of the rivers Krishna, Tungabhadra, Bhavanasi and their tributaries were submerged.

Srisailam Dam

River Krishna

Pathalaganga: Here the river Krishna is called as Pathalaganga is a holy place in Srisailam, where pilgrims take bath to get rid of their sins. It is about 10 kms away from the main temple. You can take the ropeway down to the river. It has a primitive bathing Ghat and a jetty to ferry you to the dam site. There are many cave sites along the river course. During 12th Century A.D. this cave appears to have attained it’s present name Akkamahadevi caves after the famous ascetic, lyricist and philosopher, Akkamahadevi who hailed from Karnataka. It is known that Akkamahadevi did penance in this cave and worshipped the Sivalinga naturally existed in the deep and dark end of the cave. The A.P. Tourism Department has arranged Motor Boat to see the said caves.

Small bridge at patalganga

Ropeway

Phaladhara panchadhara is anther major tourist area in srisailam. This most beautiful scene spot in surroundings of Srisailam is located about 4 Km from the main temple. Adishankarachrya did tapsya here, and he wrote Shivanandalahari. Marble statues of Sarada Devi and Jagadguru Adisankaracharya installed there and daily regular Poojas are being offered also.

Adishankaracharya statue

There are about 150 steps.

Adishankaracharya temple

View from inside

Forest route in phaladara panchadara

This spot is located in a narrow valley approachable by a flight of steps where subterranean streams of pure water with musical sound reverberating the surroundings. Here there is a continuous waterfalls, which comes from hills. The water fall is in the form of five parts. Hence the name Panchadhara (Pancha = five, dhara = Stream). People belive that water comes from forehead of Lord Shiva. Hence the name Phaladhara (Phala = fore head, dhara = Stream). The water from this stream flows in interrupted at all seasons and are used in Sakshiganapathi temple and Hatakeswaram temple and it joins the river Krishna.

Forest view

waterfall

Sakshi Ganapathi: This small shrine located about 3 Kms from Srisailam and is one of the sacred spots frequented by pilgrims since times immemorial. The traditional belief is that the Ganapathi in this temple keeps regular account of all the pilgrims to tender Sakshyam (evidence) of their visit to this Kshetram and so named as Sakshi Ganapathi. The sculpture of this deity is exquisitely made holding a book in the left hand and a pen in the right hand in such a way as noting down the names of devotees. It is in practice that devotees during their return had the darshan of this Ganapathi and informed their name and gotra to him. Srinatha the renowed poet of 14th Century A.D. in his Kasikhandam states that this Sakshi Ganapathi is visualized by sage Agasthya during his pilgrimage to Srisailam.

Sakshi Ganapathi

Shikharam: At Sikharam, the highest of the Srisailam hills, is Sikhareswara Swamy, a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. This most sacred spot is located at about 8 Km from the main temple at a height of 2830 feet above the mean sea level. It is the highest peak of Srisailam Hills.The Skanda Purana proclains that a mere glance of this Sikharam frees the human soul from the fitters of rebirth. (Srisaila Sikharam Drustva Punarjanma Na Vidyathe).In ancient days people used to come to Srisailam on foot and those who unable to reach the shrine returned back by seeing this peak.The Sikhareswaram temple is an ancient stone structure consisting of Garbhagriha, Antaralaya and 16 pillered Mukhamanda. The deity here is named as Veera Sankara Swamy and locally popularized as Sikhareswara Swamy.

Closer view

Historically the Reddy Kings have constructed a flight of steps to this temple in the year 1398 A.D. and also a tank (Pushkarini) at this place.During the medieval times this spot was the centre for many secret sects of Saivisam who performed their rituals in the cave like chambers which can be seen even today.This place give a panoramic view of the entire temple complex of Srisailam including the meandering river Krishna.

Front view

Shikara Nandhi

Besides, there is a Srisailam Wildlife Sanctuary, which covers area in five adjoining districts, has tigers, panthers, spotted deer, giant squirrels, great lizards, pangolins, crocodiles, civets and a varieties of snake.