Pancharama 4 – Kumararama

The 4th Pancharama that I had visited that day was the Kumararama in Samalkot, East Godavari district. It is called the Kumararama Bhimeswara temple, which is built by East Chalukya Bhima between 892-922 CE.

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This shivalinga has been installed by Kumara Swamy, hence the name Kumararama. The temple has two prakarams.

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The outer prakaram has Kalabhairava temple and a path to go to the Pushkarini.

Though the construction style is similar to Draksharama, it is smaller in area. Here amma is in the form of Bala Tripura Sundari. Though the temple was started by the Chalukyas, in 14th century the Kakatiya rulers added to the structure.

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Similar in style to Draksharama, it is built in 2 floors, with the Prakara Mandapam also in 2 floors.

From morning we were going in and out of ancient temples. So by then, the light was fading, we were tired so couldn’t check out for many inscriptions. Ancient temples are power centers, so being in and out of them was bound to effect us.

This beautiful ekasila (made from a single stone) Nandi was huge and magnificent. This temple was not as crowded as the rest of the Pancharamas. But when we entered some Brahmins were chanting Slokas which gave a divine and heavenly feeling.

Main temple

Dwarapalas

Entrance to garbhagriha was carved with Gajalakshmi on the lalata. In the picture you can see the locked door inside. I didnt realise I was looking at the garbagriha because the archaka was not there. Only when my husband pointed out the shivalinga, I realised. You can see part of the white shivalingam. Here also the shivalinga is so tall, it reaches the second floor. The archaka was here and so we had darshan of Deva. This shivalinga is slightly shorter than the one in Draksharama and is white in colour.

Coming down saw another miniature temple like in Draksharama, but this had Ganapati beside it and it was not as well carved as in Draksharama.

With this completed the darshan of 4 Pancharamas on Sravana Ekadashi.

Pancharama 3 – Draksharamam

Draksharama is a town in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. It is a Pancharama kshetra and also an Ashtadasa Shakti Peeta. It is built like a fort. It has two prakarams and the outer prakaram has four entrances with 4 gopurams.

Sri Bheemeshwara Swamy and Manikyamba Devi are the chief deities in this temple. Lord Vishnu is the kshetra palaka of this kshetra. Sri Vyasa describes this kshetra extensively in the Skanda purana. It is famous as a Shiva and Shakti Kshetra.

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Gopuram which is used as the main entrance along with a mandapam.

The 4 gopurams of the outer prakara are named after 4 goddesses Gogulamma, Nookambica, Moodhambike and Ghattambike. This temple was renovated by the Eastern Chalukya Bhima in 10th century.

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Another gopuram

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The outer prakaram is very big. The whole temple is said to be built on 12 acres of land. Temple is under ASI and apart from the temple and structures, vast lawns have been made in outer prakaram giving a beautiful look to the place. The wall is like a fort wall with some carvings. In one corner of the outer prakaram, a ruined Mandapam has been converted into an office which the ASI uses now.

Draksharama is also known as Daksha Vatika and Daksha tapovana. It is said to be the place where Daksha Prajapati conducted his yagna and where Sati Devi unable to bear the insult to her husband Shiva by her father, immolated herself in the yagna fire. An enraged and griefstriken Shiva does the pralaya tandav and carries Sati Devi body and roams the earth. Lord Vishnu, with his chakra cuts the body into pieces and the places where they fell become Shakti Peeta. Daksha Vatika is where her cheek is said to have fallen and is mentioned by Adishankara in his poem.

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Kalabhairava temple with 8 lingas called the Astabhairavas.

Amma is known as Manikyamba here. Adi Shankara is said to have installed a Sri Chakram in this temple. She is seen standing on a Srichakra. The Srichakra is covered throughout the year, it is seen by devotees only on one day and we were lucky to see it.

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A big Mandapam in outer prakaram

The lingam of Bheemeshwara is the largest Swayambhu sivalingam. It towers at 15 feet.

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Here Nandi doesn’t look at Shiva but his head it tilted towards Amma.

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There is a huge peepal tree with many carvings of nagas around it. When we go to the side of the 4th Gopuram, we can see a shivalingam and Nandi. Ganesh is also kept there. It has a very strong aura.

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Going through the 4th gopuram, we reach the Sapta Godavari Kundam which was formed by the water of 7 rivers, brought by the Sapta Maharishis. This water is considered sacred and it is used to perform abhishekam to Mahadev.

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Entering the inner prakaram, going through the Prakara Mandapam we can see various gods in different alcoves. Chaturmukha Brahma, Natarajeshwara, Saptamatrukas. There are other shrines to Kanaka Durga and Annapurna Devi also.

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The temple which is 2 storied, has a prakara Mandapam which is also 2 storied. The shivalingam is a sphatika lingam and very powerful. In the beginning the power coming out of the shivalingam was so intense that the saptarishis too couldn’t approach Deva, so they installed 7 lingams in surrounding places with the cooling nature of the moon. Surya installed the eight lingam to bring a soothing lunar energy over Deva, thus covering all 8 directions and making him approachable. The eight places where the shivalingam were installed by the Saptarishis were Penumuru, Kollanka, Dangeru, Vella, Kotipalli, Someshwaram, Venduru and Korumilli. These places are within 3 – 12 miles from Draksharama.

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A miniature temple fully carved.

In the second floor, beside Deva is the Murti of Sati Devi also known as Dakshayini. The pillars in the second floor have carvings, but being too immersed in seeing Deva and due to the crowd, couldn’t take pictures of the pillars.

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The inscriptions range from 10th to 15th century. Patrons include Velanadu and Reddy chiefs of Rajahmundry, shatavahanas, kondaveedu rulers, the Chalukya cholas etc. Inscriptions of Tamil, Telugu & Devanagari scripts are found. Over 400 inscriptions are found on the walls.

Draksharama is one of the Trilingas which gave the name Trilinga desa to Andhra desa. The other two being Kaleshwaram in Telangana and Srisailam in Rayalaseema. It is also known as Dakshina Kasi.

Pancharama 2 – Ksheerarama

After Somarama, we went to the next Pancharama called Ksheerarama. It is also called Sri Ksheera Ramalingeshwara Swamy temple and is in Palakollu, 20 km from Bhimavaram. It was built in 9th century by Chalukya Bhima.

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Just seeing the Gopuram brought a smile on my face. If Somarama Gopuram was beautiful with colours, Ksheerarama Gopuram was imposing in its height. It is one of the tallest gopuram in Andhra at 120 feet and 9 levels. This shivalinga has been installed by Lord Rama (Vishnu). I have told the purana of the Pancharamas in Somarama thread.

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Carvings on both side of the dwaram of the Gopuram, aesthetically painted.

This Gopuram is built by Sri Alladu Reddy in the 14th century. This shivalinga is whitish in colour. Parvati ma is the goddess.

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After entering we can see the Dwajastambham with a Mahadev statue in front of it.

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Entering the next dwaram we come into the Aasthana Mandapam with rows of pillars.

Nandi which had a railing blocking the view so couldn’t take a proper picture. It is difficult for the devotees also to see thru his ears with this setup.

Nritya (Dance) mandapam

To the right of the main temple we have the Nritya Mandapam, small & compact. It has pillars with carvings of musicians & dancers.

Another story about this temple is, there lived a poor Brahmin Koushika who struggled for his daily needs. One day his son asks his mother for ksheeraannam(Pongal, a sweet made with rice and milk). The helpless lady asks him to pray to Shiva. The boy sits in front of the linga and prays. Mahadev pleased with the boy creates a pool of milk with his Trishul. Thus this place was called Ksheerapuram and Palakolanu(milk pond) which later became Palakollu.

Kalyana (marriage) mandapam

To the left, there is a Kalyana Mandapam with carved pillars.

Prakara mandapam

The Prakaram was designed by Sri Velupathi in the 10th century. It has ancient and modern aspects now. All around, old murtis are placed in alcoves. Sri Suryanarayana Swamy, Sri Veerabhadra, Saptamatrukas, Sri Brahma, Sri Karthikeya, Sri Kumaraswamy, Sri Subramanya Swamy, Sri Ekanadha, Sri Medha Dakshinamurthy, Sri Nataraja, Sri Dattatreya, Sri Kalabhairava are some of the Gods ancient murtis that are there.

View of Gopuram from inside. Some statues painted in colours. By taking a ticket, we can climb the Gopuram. Since we had to cover more temples, we did not climb the Gopuram.

With that, completed the darshan of the second Pancharama.

Pancharama 1 – Somarama

Sri Someshwara Janardhana Swamy temple also known as Somarama is one of the Pancharamas. Located at Gunupudi, at Bhimavaram, the present temple with Gopuram and Prakaram was built in 9th century by Eastern Chalukya Bhima.

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The history of Pancharamas is thus.

Tarakasura was a powerful asura who had the boon that he would die only at the hands of a child of Shiva. He had after penance to Shiva acquired an atmalingam which he wore and became invincible. It is for Tarakasura samhaara (destruction) that Karthikeya was born. Karthikeya as a child fought against Tarakasura and cut him up into pieces. But no matter how many times he did that, Tarakasura joined again and became alive. Lord Vishnu tells Karthikeya that this is happening because of the atmalingam that Tarakasura has. He tells Karthikeya to break up the atmalingam into 5 pieces. He also warns him that the 5 pieces would join again chanting the Omkara. So, the minute the atmalingam is broken, the 5 pieces where they fall should be installed and a temple built around them. That way, the atmalingam cannot join again and Tarakasura can be killed easily. Karthikeya follows the instructions of Lord Vishnu and 5 Gods are ready to install the linga. Karthikeya breaks the atmalingam into 5 pieces by his Aagneyaastra (weapon of fire) and the 5 pieces are installed by Indra, Surya, Chandra, Vishnu and Kumaraswamy and the temples built. Then Karthikeya kills Tarakasura.

Ganesh Karthikeya

Ganesha and Karthikeya on either side of the dwaaram to go into the antarala. Beautiful murtis.

Somarama was installed by Chandra. This lingam changes colour according to the lunar time. It is white during Pournami (full moon) and a blackish brown during amavasya (new moon). We went on Ekadashi and it was more of a whitish shade. Janardhana Swamy is the Kshetra palaka of this temple.

Dwarapalas

It is a two storied temple and Annapurna Devi is on the top floor.

The temple complex also has Anjaneya Swamy, Kumaraswamy and Navagraha temples.

Nandi in front of the entrance.

View of the Gopuram from inside

On either side of the gopuram inside the temple prakaram there is a temple for Subramanya Swamy and Surya Bhagvan.

The Chandra Pushkarini in front of the temple which is also called Soma Gundam.

The painting on the ceiling when you enter the gopuram. It is so beautiful. With that, finished the darshanam of Somarama, the first in our list of Pancharamas.

Sri Bhimeswara Swamy temple – Bhimavaram

Sri Bhimeswara Swamy temple of Bhimavaram, which is more than 1000 yrs old, is often confused with another illustrious temple of Bhimavaram, the Soma Rama, which is one of the Pancharamas.

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Gopuram

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As soon as we enter through the gopuram, we are in the Mandapam of the Rama temple which is in the complex. The Sri Bhimeswara Swamy temple is straight ahead. This temple has many more temples constructed in later years in the same complex.

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The Sita Rama aalayam that we see as soon as we enter the complex.

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The other temples of the complex.

This complex apart from the main temple and Sita Rama temple, has the temples of Anjaneya Swamy, Sri Subramanya Swamy and Radha Krishna temple.

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Sri Bhimeswara Swamy aalayam was built between 890 & 918 CE by East Chalukya king named Chalukya Bhima. He is said to have laid the foundation for this temple and named the place Bhimapuram, which was later changed to Bhimavaram. Varam means something that is bestowed in Telugu.

You can notice the sculpture of Meenakshi ammans wedding on the Vimana. Sri Jagannath Swamy is the Kshetra palaka of this temple. Sri Bhimeswara Swamy is the main Bhagvan and Mahishasuramardini is in the temple beside him. Amma is depicted in Vaishnava form, having 4 hands. She has a Shank in her right upper hand and Chakra in her left upper hand and the rest she is in abhaya mudra. It is the only temple in Andhra where she is depicted thus. She is believed to be very powerful.

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Dwajastambham and Nandi

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Opposite end of the Mandapam has two alcoves. One holding Dattatreya and the other has Brahma.

This temple is in the Gandhinagar area of Bhimavaram. Though I had passed it the previous day, I didn’t realise that it was an ancient temple. The list of temples that I planned for that day was Yanamadurru and 4 of the Pancharamas. While going to the first Pancharama, we were passing this temple when I saw mention of Chalukyas outside. This made me stop immediately and go inside. When Mahadev decided that I should have his darshan, he made sure that I stopped. Grateful for his benevolence. This way I had the chance of visiting another ancient temple.