Sri Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple Timings:
Mornings Hours: 5:30 am to 12:30 pm.
Evening Hours: 4:00 pm to 8:30 pm.
Abhishekam to Ramalingeswara Swamy between 5.30 am and 6.30 am all days.
Exclusive and Privileged Poojas and Sevas Times:
Abhishekam : 5.30 am to 6.00 am.
Sarva Darshan : 6.00 am to 12.00 Noon and 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm.
Abhishekam, Astottara Namarchana : 6.00 am to 11.30 am and 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm.
Kumkuma Abhishekam, Astottara Namarchana for Ammavaru : 6.30 am to 12.00 noon and 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm.
Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple, which is regarded as one among the famous Pancharama Kshetras, is located at Palakollu of West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. The Temple is dedicated to Lord Siva. The Temple Tower (Raja Gopuram) has a height of 120 feet and has 9 floors. According to the inscriptions, the temple was built in 918 A.D. by the King Bheemeswara of Chalukya Dynasty. The main deity inside the Sanctum Sanctorum has a height of 2 feet. It is inscribed that Great poets Nanayya, Thikkana, and Srinatha visited this shrine.
Kshira Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple History:
Skanda Purana and Brahmanda Purana have mention about this temple. As per the legends, Amrutha Atma Linga emerged out during the Ksheerasagar Mathanam (drilling the Ocean of Milk), but Demon Tarakasura stole it. Wearing this Linga around his neck, he attained supernatural powers and became unbeatable. Kumara Swamy, the son of Lord Siva and Parvathi, was the commander-in-chief of Gods and he attacked Tarakasura in a face to face war. Using his Sakthi weapon Kumara Swamy repeatedly broke the body of Tarakasura into pieces but every time it reunited.
Lord Maha Vishnu advised Kumara Swamy that in order to kill the demon he should break the Linga into pieces. Still his body parts will reunite. So to prevent that reunion, the broken pieces should be fixed in those places where they fell, by worshipping and building temples on top of each piece.
As per Maha Vishnu’s advice, Kumara Swamy used his Agni weapon and broke the Siva Linga worn by the Tarakasura. The Atma Linga broke into five pieces, and the broken pieces tried to reunite by chanting ‘Aum’. To prevent the reunion, Indra, Surya, Chandra, Vishnu and Kumara Swamy worshipped the different pieces of Linga at their respective places and built temples which are known as Pancharama Kshethras. It is believed that Lord Vishnu installed the Siva Linga in the Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple.
As per another story, there lived a poor Brahmin Koushika who struggled a lot for his daily living. One day his son Upaveeta asked his mother to prepare milk rice. Because of poverty, she asked him to pray to Bhimeswara. As per his mother’s advice, he sat in front of the idol and started praying to the God for milk. Lord Siva was highly impressed and he created a milk pool with his Trishul. Hence, got the name Ksheerapuram and Palakolanu, which was later known as Palakollu.
Temple Architecture and the Importance of Palakollu:
The main attraction of Palakollu is the Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is regarded as one of the Pancharama Kshetras. The temple tower has a height of 120 feet and has 9 floors. The temple was constructed in 9th century during the reign of Chalukya Bheema. The art and architecture reflect the chalukyan style. The Prakara of the temple was designed by Sri Velupathi during the 10th century. Gopuram was built by Sri Alladu Reddy during 14th Century and the Kalyana mandapam and Astha Bhuja Lakshmi Narayanaswamy temple were constructed during 17th century.
The Shivalinga is milky white in colour and is believed to be the tallest. In the temple mandapam there are 72 pillars made of black stone. Inside the Garbha Gruha (Sanctum), and Gokarneswara and Vigneshwara shrines are situated at the left and Kshiralingam is at the center. Subramanya Swamy and Janardhana Swamy shrines are located at the right, with Nandi at the centre. River Gosthani flows through Palakollu town and it meets with River Godavari place near Narsapur. From there, the river merges with the sea at Antarvedi. It is said that once this place was a thick forest with full of natural greenery.
The peculiarity of the temple is that the Shiva Linga (Moola Virat) can be seen from all the four sides through the windows of the Garbha Gruha. Other deities in the temple include the Sun God, Kashi Vishweshwara, Brahma, Swamy Goddess parvathi, Goddess Lakshmi, Kanaka Durga, Saraswathi, Mahishasura Mardhini, Nagareshwara Lingam, Dundi Vigneshwara, Veera Bhadra, Sapta Matruka, Kartikeya, Naga sarpa, Nataraja, Dattatreya, Kala Bhairava, Nageshwara, Shaneeshwara, Shankara, and Radha Krishna. It is believed that the Shiva lingam in this temple was installed by Lord Vishnu. It is also believed that staying one day in Ksheerarama is equivalent to staying one year in Varanasi.
Poojas and Ticket Price Details:
1) Astottara Namarchana – Rs.10.00
2) Gopuram Pravesama – Rs.5.00
3) Sri Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Photo – Rs.5.00
4) Kumkuma Pooja – Rs.20.00
5) Special Darshan – Rs.30.00
6) Cycle Pooja – Rs.20.00
7) Kesakandana – Rs.20.00
8) Sri Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy laminated Photo – Rs.20.00
9) Abhishekam – Rs.50.00
10) Two Wheeler Pooja – Rs.30.00
11) Japam – Rs.50.00
12) Lingarchana – Rs.500.00
13) Surya Namaskaram – Rs.50.00
14) Shanti Homa – Rs.200.00
Dieties inside the Temple:
Lord Kashi Vishweshwara Swamy
Goddess Parvathi Devi
Goddess Lakshmi Devi
Nagareshwara Lingam
Lord Dundi Vigneshwara Swamy
Veera Bhadra Swamy
Sapta Matruka
Goddess Kanaka Durga
Brahma Deva
Goddess Saraswathi
Lord Kumara Swamy
Kartikeya Swamy
Goddess Mahishasura Mardhini
Kala Bhairava
Naga Sarpa
Nataraja Swamy
Lord Dattatreya
Nageshwara
Shaneeshwara Swamy
Radha Krishna
Shankara
Palakollu Shiva Temple Address:
Sri Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple,
Palakollu,
West Godavari District,
Andhara Pradesh – 534260.
Office Phone:08814-222822
