Sree Sailam-Mallikarjun Temple (Andhra Pradesh)

Image credit : Mallikarjun Temple

The Sree Sailam Temple located in Kurnool district, is one of the 12 Jyotirlingam. Sri Sailam is a small city situated in the densely forested Nallamalai hills. This temple is considered very holy and is dedicated to Mallikarjuna Swamy and Bhramaramba. One unique feature of the temple is that all the devotees who visit the temple are allowed to touch the idol which is not prevalent in any other temple. The temple is located at a distance of 245 km from Hyderabad. Sree Sailam near Kurnool enshrines Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple rich in architectural and sculptural wealth. Adi Sankaracharya composed his Sivanandalahiri here.

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The temple situated here is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is among the 12 Jyotirlingas in India. The temple sculptures narrate in stone, epics from thre great Hindu epics-Ramayana nand Mahabharata. The Sree Sailam temple has rich sculptural work, fort like walls and towers. The temple is built in Dravidian style. According to popular legends, the religious leader had visited the temple and had composed his famous Sivananda Lahiri. It is also believed that Goddess Durga had taken the form of a bee and worshiped Lord Shiva here and selected this holy place as her abode. There are some temples in the vicinity of Sree Sailam Temple, they are Tripurantakam to the east of Sree Sailam.

JAI SHREE KRISHNA

The Shrinathji temple, Nathdwara is dedicated to Lord Krishna. It is located in Nathdwara, approximately 48km to the north of Udaipur. The Nathdwara Shrinathji temple of Rajasthan houses a statue of Lord Krishna, sculpted from a single piece of black marble. The statue has one of its arms raised, giving an impression of Lord Krishna holding the Govardhan Mountain. The other arm seems to be giving a blessing as well as holding a dance posture.

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The temple is referred to as ‘Haveli’, commonly used in Rajasthan for the mansions of the wealthy merchants. Temple servants wear the clothes and costumes of the bygone era of kings and queens and serve the deity as the beloved prince and darling of Nandaraj and Yashoda maiya, the adoptive parents of Lord Krishna.

At regular intervals, there is a live performance of classical music in its many fragrant marble halls and courtyards, to entertain Him. There are ‘pankhwalas’ who still pull on the large fans manually to cool the interiors. There are drums and trumpets to announce the ‘Royal Darshan’ in the noon just as the announcements that the kings entering their courts were once made.

The temple is built around several split-level courtyards to keep it airy with a solid-white façade at its exteriors. There are paintings of elephants, horses, beautiful maidens and doorkeepers on all the doorways. It is said that famous pichwai paintings originated from the custom of painted curtain cloths behind the idol.