Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam

Deity

Mallikarjuna (Jyotirlinga) with Bhramaramba Devi (Shakti Peetha)

Where

Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh · 16.07N 78.87E

Usual hours

5 am – 1 pm, 4 pm – 9 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?

Grahas

Sani Rahu

Visited for

A Jyotirlinga and a Shakti Peetha on the same hill above the Krishna — one of the few places that is both. Maha Sivaratri and Ugadi are its days.

The sthala purana has it that Kumaraswamy left Kailasam in anger over his brother’s marriage being settled first, and came to this hill. Sivan and Parvathi followed him; he moved further off, and they stayed here rather than turn back. Sivan is worshipped as Mallikarjuna and Parvathi as Bhramaramba.

Bhramaramba takes her name from the bee. The sthala purana has it that the Devi took the form of a swarm of bees to end the asura Arunasura, who could not be killed by anything with two legs or four.

Adi Sankara is said by tradition to have composed the Sivananda Lahari at Srisailam.

Srisailam is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and one of the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas, and the two stand on the same hill. Very few places in India are counted in both lists.

The outer prakara wall is Vijayanagara work and is covered on the outside with continuous relief carving — processions, scenes from the puranas, and rows of figures that repay a slow walk round.

The prakara wall is the best thing here and is often missed, because the queue goes straight in. The carving runs the whole way round the outside.

The Mallikarjuna linga is in the sanctum and the Bhramaramba shrine is behind it, up a short flight. Sparsa darshan, where the linga may be touched, is arranged at certain hours.

Patala Ganga, the flight of steps down to the Krishna below the hill, is a long descent and a longer climb. The Nallamala forest surrounds the whole place.

Maha Shivaratri brings a Brahmotsavam of about ten days and is the largest gathering of the year.

Dasara at the Bhramaramba shrine, Ugadi and the month of Karthika are the other seasons. Kumbhabhishekam and the pushkaram of the Krishna bring their own crowds.

Also called

Sri Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple, Sriparvatam

Period

Old foundation, with the great walled prakara built under Vijayanagara

Reaching it

Srisailam is about 180 km from Kurnool and roughly 200 km south of Hyderabad, reached through the Nallamala forest on a ghat road. Markapur Road and Kurnool are the nearest railway stations.

• Jogulamba Temple, Alampur 81.9 km · Sakta (Amman)
• Mahanandiswara Temple, Mahanandi 86.2 km · Saiva
• Nava Narasimha Temples, Ahobilam 105.8 km · Vaishnava
• Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt, Mantralayam 149.3 km · Vaishnava
• Chilkur Balaji Temple 155.8 km · Vaishnava
• Amaralingeswara Swamy Temple, Amaravathi 168.8 km · Saiva

Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.

• Were the hours right when you went?
• Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
• A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board

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