Srisailam

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

Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple dedicated to Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy (a form of Shiva) and Devi Bhramaramba (a form of Parvathi) is located here and it is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. Srisailam Dam, located about 245 km from Hyderabad and 132 km from Nandyal is a multipurpose dam has been built across River Krishna and caters to the irrigation and power needs of the state.



Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple
The Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple located in Srisailam is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The origins of Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple have been lost in antiquity. The Skanda Purana has a chapter called Srisaila Kandam dedicated to it, which points to the ancient origin. This is confirmed also by the fact that saints of the past millennia have sung praises of this temple. It is said that Adi Sankara visited this temple and at that time he composed his Sivananda Lahiri.

Srisailam is referenced in the ancient Hindu Puranas, and the epic Mahabharata.

Shiva's sacred bull Nandi is said to have performed penance at the Mahakali temple till Shiva and Parvati appeared before him as Mallikarjuna and Brahmaramba. The temple is one of the 12 hallowed jyotirlingas; Lord Rama himself installed the Sahasralinga, while the Pandavas lodged the Panchapandava lingas in the temple courtyard.

Heroic legends from the Mahabharata and Ramayana are sculpted in stone on the temple walls and the Mahabharata epic refers to Srisailam as Sri Parvata - the blessed hill. You can hear the buzzing of a bee through a tiny hole in the Brahmaramba temple, where Parvati, in the form of a bee, slew the demon Mahisasura.

It also gained prominence in the twelfth century due to Sharana Movement and Vachana Sahitya headed by Basavanna. According to legends one of the srisailam caves is said to be the place where the most famous poet and social reformer Akka Mahadevi is said to have achieved salvation.

Gateways
Tradition, literature as well as epigraphical sources state that the sacred hill of Srisailam has four gateways in the four cardinal directions namely,

  1. Tripuranthakam: Located in Prakasam District in the East where God Tripuranthakeswara Swamy and Goddess Tripurasundari Devi are Presiding Deities.
  2. Siddhavatam : Located on the bank of the river Penna in Kadapa District in the south where Jyothisideswara Swamy and Goddess Kamakshi Devi are the presiding Deities.
  3. Alampur: Located on the bank of the river Tungabhadra in Mahaboobnagar District in the west where Navabrahma Alayas - A group of nine temples of Chalukya period are situated. This Kshetram is also the seat of Goddess Jogulamba, the one of the Eighteen Mahasakthis.
  4. Umamaheswaram : Located in Rangapur, Achampeta Mandal,Mahaboobnagar District in the North where God Umamaheswara Swamy and Goddess Umamaheswari Devi are the presiding deities.
Secondary Gateways
Beside the main gateways four more Secondary Gateways in the four corner directions are also popularly known.
  1. Eleswaram: Located in Mahaboobnagar District now submerged in the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in the North - East with Eleswara Swamy and Katyani as presiding Deities.
  2. Somasila: Located on the bank of the river Penna in South - East with Skanda Someswara as the presiding Deity.
  3. Pushpagiri: Located in Kadapa District in the South-West with Santhana Malleswara as Presiding Deity.
  4. Sangameswaram: Located at the confluence of the River Krishna and Tungabhadra in Kurnool District on the North-West and submerged at Srisailam Dam with Sangameswara as presiding Deity. This temple has been re-built at Alampur.

Tourist Places around Srisailam

Akka mahadevi caves
Akka mahadevi caves During 12th Century A.D. this cave appears to have attained it's present name Akka Mahadevi caves after the famous ascetic, lyricist and philosopher, Akka Mahadevi who hailed from Karnataka. It is known that Akka Mahadevi 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.

Srisailam Dam
Srisailam Dam is 512 m long on the Krishna River and is set amidst beautiful natural scenery - ghats, cliffs, craggy ridges, plateaus and dense forests. It 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 (TMC). 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 all along the banks of the rivers Krishna, Tungabhadra, Bhavanasi and their tributaries were submerged

Srisailam Sanctuary
Srisailam also boasts of one of the largest Tiger Reserves in India. actually Srisailam is located in forest of nallamalai. This sanctuary covers an area of 3568 sq km). The terrain is rugged and winding gorges slice through the area. This area is covered by dry deciduous forests with scrub and bamboo thickets.

These forests provide shelter to a range of animals like the tiger, leopard, deer, sloth bear, hyena, jungle cat, palm civet, bonnet macaque and pangolin.

The down waters Srisailam dam is home to a variety of crocodiles. The local government supports a breeding program which has been highly successful.

Hemareddy Mallamma Temple at Srisailam
Hemareddy Mallamma Temple at Srisailam is Being Inaugurated on 26 May 2010. The Temple is built at Hemareddy Mallamma Kaneeru at Srisailam by Karnataka Veerashiva Reddy Samaj in adjoining ashram we can also see the place where she lived with cows etc .The place is a holy place and lakhs of pilgrims pray at this temple. The temple is situated about a half kilometer on the western side of the Mallikarjuna Temple.

How to reach Srisailam

By Road: Srisailam is very well connected by State run bus service APSRTC (Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation) from various major cities/towns which includes Hyderabad, Guntur, Machilipatnam, Vijayawada, Cuddapah, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Devarakonda, Vinukonda, Kurnool, Ongole, Nellore, Mahanandi, Mantralayam, Anantapur, Tirupati, Chitradurga, Markapur. From Vinukonda, and alsofrequent service for every 30mins is available and Tamli NaduChennai . It is located 85 km from Markapur,120 km from Vinukonda 180 km from Ongole,190 km from Kurnool and 232 km from Hyderabad.

Rail: The nearest railway stations are Vinukonda (120 km), Markapur (85 km) and Kurnool (190 km) on the Guntur-Hubli section.

Air: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport serving the city of Hyderabad and located 232 km from Srisailam is the nearest International airport.

Sangameswara Temple, Kurnool
Kurnool
Mantralayam
Prakasam

Private Tour Travel Trip Bangalore to Srisailam -