SRISAILAM VISIT ON 11 06 2018

SRISAILAM VISIT ON 11 06 2018

I was at Hyderabad on 10.06.2018 and from there I proceeded by bus to Srisailam and was there for half a day and returned back to Bangalore.

Sree Mallikarjuneswarar is one of the twelve jyothirlingas and people from all over India visit Srisailam and the temple devasthanam has made adequate arrangements for stay there with a no. of chatrams, which we can book online.  Besides the Sree Mallikarjuna temple along with Goddess Brahmarambara devi temple, there are other temples and places of interest in Srisailam.   Sree Sakshi ganapthy temple, Hatekeswaram, Shikaram, Phaladhara Panchadhara theertham and tribal museum are some of the places and Srisailam dam, Tiger reserve and Pathala Ganga are nearer to Srisailam.

Srisailam is at an altitude of  435 metres (1427 feet) above sea level and is blessed with natural beauty of Moutainous ranges and thick forest around and has borders with Telengana.  Srisasilam is in the Nallamall hill ranges of Karnool district of Andhra Pradesh, nallamalla meaning black hills.  I stayed in Annapoorna Satram which is only 300 metres away from the Mallikarjuna temple.   Lot of autos and taxis are avialble for the local tour.  The autos cahrge Rs.400/- for four people an hour and a half tour of Sakshi Ganapathy temple, Hatekeswaram, Shikaram and Pathasala Panchadara and comprehensive full tour to all places are available leaving the main temple of Srisailam for tourists to have darshan at their preferred time.   

The local people who live in Nallamalla hills and forests, a part of Eastern Ghats, are called 'Chenchus' and they affectionately call Sree Mallikarjuna Swamy as 'Mallanna'.  A chenchu in a traditional attire -

       

                                                           Shikaram

Shikaram the heighest peak of Srisailam is at altitude of 2380 ft and is 8 kms away from main temple of srisailam.  Skantha Puranam procalims that a mere glance of the peak of Shikaram frees one from rebirth -  Srisaila sikharam drustva punarjanma na vidyathe - and there is a temple dedicated to Shikereswara Swamy here.  The panoramic view of Srisailam can be had from this place and a steel frame of shivalinga has been erected in the peak and also a small nandhi through which people see the place.  There was a board here indicating binoculars can be had for a fees of Rs.5/- but in the morning when I went, no one was there to do that service.  Flight of steps have been made to this peak during 1398 AD by the then Reddi Kings and a small road has been made to the top which may require only to climb 20 steps.  The Reddi Kings also have a made Pushkarani here.

                                                              SHAKSHI GANAPATHI

Shakshi Ganapathi temple is 2 kms before reaching Srisailam and he is the shakshi for having visited the place.  it is believed that a visit to Srisailam goes unrecorded if one does not pray at this temple.  The temple is open from 6 AM onwards and upto 9 PM.

                                            PHALADHARA PANCHADHARA

Phaladhara Panchadhara is 4 kms from mallikarjuna temple and one has to go down 150 steps to reach the place.  As the steps have been cut out of the rocks, they are uneven and the height of steps are also not uniform.  It is said that Adhi Sanka Bhagavathpadha performed penance here and also composed the famous Sivananda Lahari.  His Holiness, the Paramacharya of Kanchi Mutt has confirmed this and there is a small temple for Adhi Sankara here and poojas performed here.  There are small streams falling at these place from the rock and locals call that as Phaladhara Panchadara - meaning Phala-forehead and Dhara stream.  The streams finally merge with River Krishna.

                                                      Hatekeswaram

                                                         Lalithambika Sannidhi  

Hatakeswaram - There are two versions for the name of the place - one version says the Lord Siva appeared to a devotee, who was a potter, in a pot, Attika (a piece of pot) and thus the place was known as Attikeswaram, which over the days has become hatakeswaram.  Another version says practioners of Hata Yoga were present here and thus the place got the name.  Lord Siva here is a small linga like the Mallikarjuna and a small Mukha mandapa also is there in the temple.

                                                      OTHER PLACES TO SEE

                                                                   Pathalganaga

                                                     Ropeway in Pathalaganga

Tribal Museum

Akkammadevi caves

Srisailam Dam

There are other places to see, which I could not make it.   The tribal museum is very near to the Mallikarjuna temple but I did not go there.  I was told Honey from the hills are sold here. Pathala Ganga is nothing but the Krishna River on the downstream of Srisailam Dam.  I could take several photographs of this place as the bus takes the route around the dam on both the banks of the river Krishna. There is a ropeway too in Pathal Ganga.  I did not see Akkamma devi caves and also Tiger reserve.   The temple of Ishtakameswari is at a distance of 21 kms from Srisailam. One day trip to Srisailam would have helped to cover all the places.

A separate blog has been written on the Mallikarjuna temple.