Temple

Near the eastern border of Bay of Bengal, stands the Pancharama temple of Ksheera Ramalingeshwar or Ksheerarama, the shrine where the idol is believed to have been installed by Lord Vishnu. It is believed that Lord Sri Rama performed first pooja here. Sri Adi Sankaracharya is said to have installed Sri chakram in this temple. The temple was constructed by the Chalukyas, during the reign of King Bheema. Later additions were made through different eras.The Prakara was designed by Sri Velupathi during the 10th century. The tiered gopuram was constructed by Sri Alladu Reddy during the 14th century. The Kalyana mantapam and Ashtha Bhuja Lakshmi Narayanaswamy alaya were constructed later during the 17th century.

Legend

The legend regarding the origin of temple describes the war between Lord Kumara Swamy and Tarakasura. As per the legend, Kumaraswamy broke the Lingam worn by Tarakasur as instructed by Lord Vishnu as he could not defeat the demon who had the Lingam on him. One of the places where the fragmented Lingam was placed by Lord Vishnu, is the Ksheera Ramalingeshwar Temple. It is hence known as one of the Pancharama khsetras of Lord Shiva.

This temple is part of the famous Pancharama Kshetra Darshan Yatra.

Architecture

The temple beautiful in its architectural beauty is unique for having the tallest gopuram at the entrance in Andhra Pradesh. Built in Dravidian style the gopuram and the temple walls are adorned with exquisite sculptures of Gods and Goddesses. There are 72 pillars made of black stone in the temple mandapa. The Garbha Griha house the sanctum with the idol of Shiv Lingam. The Lingam is milky white in colour and tall. The Lingam can be seen from the windows of the Garbha griha on all four sides. It also has shrine of Subrahmanya Swamy, Vigneshwara, Janardhana Swamy along with the main deity. There is also an image of Nandi.

Darsan Info

Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple timings: 5.30AM to 11.30AM and 4.00PM to 8.30PM. The temple is part of the Pancharama darshan yatra

Darsan Dresscode

Devotees are advised to wear clean and conservative attire

Famous Festival

March - Maha Shivrathri(Feb/Mar)

Culture

Palakol pr Palakollu is a town in West Godavari district famous owing to the Ksheeraramam temple. The main agriculture is paddy. The town has produced many artists like Chiranjivi, Allu Arjun, Mandolin Srinivas, Ghazal Srinivas etc

Temple Rituals

The priests perform regular pujas and abhisheka to the deity.

Special Rituals

Devotees believe that staying one day in this temple is equivalent to staying one year in Kasi

Additional Info