Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/rba45nNufUI
Location: "Ksheera RamaLingeswara Swamy Temple, Main Rd, Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh 534260"
Rerference: https://www.templefolks.com/temple-pedia/ksheera-ramalingeswara-swamy-temple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ksheerarama
https://www.trawell.in/andhra/rajahmundry/sri-ksheera-rama-temple-palakollu
http://ipltours.in/english/ksheera-ramalingeswara-swamy-temple-palakollu-ksheeraramam/
Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy temple is
located in the Palakollu, West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. It is one
of the Pancharama Kshetras. The temple lies 85 km from Eluru, 67 km
from Rajahmundry, 138 km from Vijayawada, 97 km from Kakinada, 22 km from
Bhimavaram and 258 km from Visakhapatnam, The Shivalingam here was
installed by Lord Vishnu. The
temple tower is one of the tallest among the temple towers in Andhra Pradesh. The original temple
belongs to 9h century during the chalukyan period reign of Chalukya
Bheema.
It is one of the five powerful Shiva
temples in Southern India that form the "Pancharama Kshetram".
The remaining four are Somarama Temple in Bhimavaram;
Draksharama Temple in Draksharamam;
Kumararama Temple in Samalkota;
and Amararama Temple in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh.
The Gostani River flows through
Palakollu and there is a sangam (confluence) near Narsapur with the Godavari River.
From here the river empties into the sea at Antarvedi.
The lingam, can be
seen from the windows of the sanctum from all four sides.
The temple complex has many shrines,
for many gods and goddesses like, Surya, Parvati, Lakshmi, Nagareshwara, Ganesha, Veerabhadra,
the eight Matrikas, Durga, Brahma, Saraswati, Kartikeya, Bhairava, Nagadeva, Nataraja, Dattatreya, Nageshwara, Shani, Krishna and Radha, and Shiva.
Legend:
Kumaraswamy known
as Karthikeya launch Agneya Ashtra (arrow) on the Shiva Ling (Atma Ling) wear
by Tarakasura in his neck before slaughter the Monster. The Shiva Ling spitted
into five fragments and one fragment fallen in Soma Rama. The fragments fallen
on earth started to grow up towards Kailash. To avoid the grown of the
fragments, Indra, Chandra (Moon), Vishnu, Surya (Sun) and Karthikeya
established the fragments in the five holy places of Amarara Rama in Amravati
of Guntur District, Soma Rama in Bhimavaram, Kshetra Rama in Palakollu of West
Godavari District, Draksha Rama and Kumara Rama in Samalkot of East Godavari
District with the names of Amareswara, Someswara, Ksheera Rameswara,
Bheemeswara and Kumara Rameswara respectively.
Shiva accompany
with Bala Chamundika in Amara Rama, Sri Raja Rajeswari Devi in Soma Rama,
Parvathi in Kshira Rama, Manykyamba in Draksha Rama and Bala Tripura Sundari in
Kumara Rama, the incarnations of Maa Parvathi.
Althernative legend: The Shivlinga is
a unique milky white in color and the tallest. According to legend, Upamanyu
the son of sage Kaushik, requested Lord Shiva to grant him enough milk so that
he can carry on the rituals in the temple. Lord Shiva filled the Ksheera
Pushkarni Tank with the mythical milky ocean (Ksheera Sagaram). Hence this place
is known with different names, Ksheerarama, Palakollu and Dugdhapovanam.
Another legend behind this temple is,
once all the deities were unable to face the troubles caused by demons. So,
they requested Lord Vishnu to protect them from demon and gave them peace. Lord
Vishnu decided to do a special archana to Ksheera Ramalingeswara to appease
Lord Shiva to save all devathas. So Lord Vishnu collected 1000 Lotus
flowers to offer archana for Lord Shiva.
In order to test the devotion of Vishnu, Lord Shiva had hidden a lotus
flower during the Puja. Lord Vishnu could not find that single lotus, and
then to fulfill his prayer he decided to offer one of his eyes to Lord Shiva
because Vishnu is described as Kamalanarayana (Lotus like eyes). Lord Shiva
wondered about the devotion of Vishnu and appears in front of him and blessed
him and gave a sudarcanachakra. Lord Vishnu wins over demons with the
help of sudarcanachakra and gives peace to all deities.
It is believed that staying one day in
Kshirarama is equivalent to staying one year in Varanasi.
Culture and Traditions
Architecture
Prakara was designed by Sri
Velupathi during the 10th century.The construction technique
resembles those built during the Chalukya period. During
the 14th century, Sri Alladu Reddy constructed the Raja
Gopuram. Kalyana mantapam (choultry) and Ashtha Bhuja Lakshmi Narayanaswamy
alaya were constructed during the 17th century.
The height of the temple is
120 ft and 9 floors and was constructed during the Chalukya period (9th
century) during the reign of Chalukya Bheema. The temple compound (a typical
Dravidian style) is huge and the temple lies right at the middle of the
Palakollu city.
The Lingam is a
unique milky white in colour and the tallest. There are 72 pillars made of
black stone in the temple mandapa. Inside,
the Garbhagriha.
the sanctums of Gokarneswara and Ganesha are
at the left. The main deity is in the center. To the right are the sanctums
of Kartikeya and Vishnu; Nandi is at
the centre.
Popular Festivals
Mahashivaratri
Temple Timings
The temple kept open from 6 AM to 12
Noon and from 4 PM to Night 8 PM.
Parking and Photography
Parking is a big issue, the temple is
in the middle of the city and there is no dedicated parking. Take a private
mode of transport to visit.
Photography is allowed but not of the
deities or garba griha.
It is nearly impossible to use a Drone
from there. With Drone height regulations changed, move out to the main road
and find a suitable location to fly the drone and capture the temple. Note that
a drone view would be the ideal view of the temple and its beautiful
architecture.
How To Reach:
By Air – The airports at Hyderabad and Vizag are the
closest airport from Adurru.
By Rail – The nearest major railway station from the
temple is located in Rajahmundry, around 70 km away. Nearest Railway Station is
Palakollu Railway Station. Few trains have halt at palakollu railway station.
By Road- Well connected by road and right on NH 216/NH165.
Own vehicle is the best option to reach the temple, otherwise being on National
Highway, there are ample buses and taxis/autos plying on the road.
Route and Stay
For good hotels, Amalapuram or
Palakollu can be destinations. We stayed in Palakollu and covered few
destinations from there. Here is the route we followed for Antharvedi:
