Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga, Srisailam

Srisailam, Nandyal district, Andhra Pradesh

Jyotirlinga 2/12
12 Jyotirlingas

About

Mallikarjuna is the second jyotirlinga. It stands on the Shrishailam hill in the thick Nallamala forest of Andhra Pradesh, high above the river Krishna. Here Shiv is worshipped as Mallikarjuna and Maa Parvati as Bhramaramba, so devotees have darshan of Shiv and Shakti together. Maa Bhramaramba's shrine is also counted among the Shakti Peethas. Inscriptions show that the temple is very old, and the Reddi and Vijayanagara kings added halls and gateway towers. The Krishna river below is called Patal Ganga here.

The story

Once Shiv and Maa Parvati told their sons, Ganesh ji and Kartikeya, that whoever went around the world and came back first would be married first. Kartikeya set off on his peacock. Ganesh ji simply walked around his parents and said that they were his whole world, and so he won. When Kartikeya came back and learnt this, he felt hurt. He left Kailash and went to live alone on the Krauncha mountain in the south.

Shiv and Parvati missed their son and followed him. When Kartikeya moved further away, his parents stayed close by on Shrishailam so that they could see him. Shiv made his home here as a jyotirlinga.

The name Mallikarjuna is explained in more than one way. One story says a princess worshipped the linga with jasmine flowers, called mallika, and so it came to be called Mallikarjuna. Another explains it as Mallika, a name of Parvati, and Arjuna, a name of Shiv.

Visiting

October to March is a good time to visit. The road winds through the Nallamala hills, part of the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve. Nearby are the Patal Ganga ghat on the Krishna, the Srisailam Dam, the Sakshi Ganapati temple, where by tradition Ganesh ji notes each pilgrim's visit, and the Shikhareshwaram viewpoint.