Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam – Religious Significance

Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam – Religious Significance

Lord Shiva in this temple is referred to as one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. Goddess Bramarambha's shrine is referred to as one of the eighteen Shakti Peetas. This temple is classified as one of the Paadal Petra Sthalam.

Jyotirlinga:

As per Siva Mahapuranam, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of preservation) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity.

The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyotirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. Originally there were believed to be 64 jyotirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. Each of the twelve jyotirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity – each considered different manifestation of Shiva. At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.

The twelve jyotirlingas are;

·        Somnath Temple, Gujarat

·        Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple, Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh

·        Mahakaleswar Temple, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

·        Omkareshwar Temple, Indore, Madhya Pradesh

·        Kedarnath Temple, Uttarakhand 

·        Bhimashankar Temple, Pune, Maharashtra

·        Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

·        Triambakeswarar Temple, Nashik, Maharashtra

·        Vaidyanath Temple, Deoghar, Jharkhand

·        Nageswar Temple, Dwarka, Gujarat

·        Rameshwar Temple, Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu 

·        Grishneshwar Temple, Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Shakti Peetas:

Srisailam Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple is one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peetha. The legend of Daksha Yaga and Sati's self-immolation resulted in the emergence of Sri Parvati in the place of Sati Devi and making Shiva a house holder. This mythology is the story behind the origin of Shakti Peetas. They are holy abodes of Adiparashakthi formed due the falling of Sati Devi's corpse when Shiva carried it and wandered. It is believed that Sati Devi's Upper lip has fallen here.

Devaram Paadal Petra Sthalams:

The temple and the deity were immortalized in Tamil poetry in the works of Thevaram by three poet saints belonging to the 7^th century - Thirugnana Sambandhar, Thirunavukkarasar and Sundaramoorthy Nayanar. This place has been mentioned as Thiruparupatham in their hymns. It is believed that Thirunavukkarasar worshiped Lord Shiva while returning from Kailash. Tirugnanasambandar and Sundarar had sung hymns from Kalahasthi. Sree Sailam is the first of the Thevara Sthalams hailed by the Tamil hymns of the Nayanmars, located outside of Tamilnadu / Kerala / Karnataka i.e. in Vada Naadu (the northern lands). This is the 268^th Devaram Paadal Petra Sthalam and 1^st Shiva Sthalam of Vada Nadu.

Reference in ancient scriptures:

The sanctity of the hill is extolled in Mahabharatham, Skanda Purana and many other religious scriptures.

Sankalpa Mantra:

The name of Srisailam Kshetra is chanted with reverence in the Sankalpa Mantra during ritual bath in holy places.

Mukthi Sthalam:

The devout believe that one can attain Mukti by taking birth at Srisailam.