Tha Pancharama Kshetras of Andhra Pradesh

The Pancharama Kshetras or the Pancharamas) are five ancient Hindu

temples of Lord Shivasituated in Andhra Pradesh. The Sivalingas at
these temples are made from a single Sivalinga.
Amareshvaraalaya gopuram
As per the legend, this Sivalinga was owned y the !a"shasa King Tara"asura. #o
one could win over him due to the power of this Sivalinga. $n the war etween deities
and Tara"a, Kumara Swamyand Tara"a were face to face. Kumara Swamy used his
Sa"thi aayudha to "%ll Tara"a. &y the power of Sa"ti aayudha the ody of Tara"a was
torn into pieces. &ut to the astonishment of Lord Kumara Swamy all the pieces
reunited to give rise to Tara"a. Kumara Swamy repeatedly ro"e the ody into
pieces and it was re'unified again.
Lord Kumara Swamy was confused and was in an emarrassed state then Lord
Sriman #arayana appeared efore him and said (Kumara) *on+t get depressed,
without rea"ing the Shiva lingham worn y the asura you can+t "%ll him, you should
first rea" the Shiva lingam into pieces, then only you can "%ll Tara"a Lord -ishnu
also said that after rea"ing, the shiva lingham also will try to unite. To prevent the
Linga from uniting all the pieces should e fi.ed in the place where they fall y
worshipping them and uilding temples on them.
&y ta"ing the word of Lord -ishnu, Lord Kumara Swamy used his Aagneasthra
/weapon of fire) to rea" the Shiva lingham worn y Tara"a. The Shiva lingham
ro"e into five pieces and was trying to unite y ma"ing 0m"ara nada /1hanting
0m). Then Surya deva y the order of Lord -ishnu fi.ed those five pieces of Shiva
linga and worshipped them y uilding temples over them. &y the formation of
temple the pieces stopped their movement and were famous of panchrama "shetras.
All the five Shivalinga in these five places have got scaly mar"ing as them which are
elieved to e formed y the power of Agneyasthra used y Lord Kumara Swamy.
2ain entrance to the &himeswara Swamy temple /view from inside the temple).
Kumara &himarama Temple atSamal"ota
According to legend, these five pieces were installed as Sivalingas at five different
temples y $ndra, Surya, 1handra, -ishnu and Kumara Swamy at the respective
places. These places /or Aaramas) are as follows3
Amararama /located in Amaravathi)3 Amaravathi is present in 4untur district,
on the an" of Krishna river. 5here as remaining four are present in 4odavai
districts/two in east godavari and other two in west godavari districts). &us facility
is so good, as all uses will go up to the temple. Amara Lingeswara swami is
worshiped y Lord $ndra here. The temple is old and in three circles with so
many temples with in the compound. &ala 1hamundeswari mata is the goddess
here. -enu 4opala swami temple is also present with in the campus of main
temple.
Draksharama /located in *ra"sharamam)3 This is near !amachandrapuram.
The temple is very ig and has three circles as compounds. This is also under
control of Archeological department. Lord Shri !ama worshiped Lord Shiva here.
#e.t followed y Lord Surya and $ndra. 2ani"yamaa devi, one of 67
sha"tipeethas is present here. -emulavada &hima "avi, famous Telugu poet, got
oons from &himeswara swami here.
Somarama /located in &himavaram)3Someswara swami temple is present in
4unupudi. $t is aout 8 to 9 "m distance from &us stand. The temple loo"s as
new one, and a holy pond /1handra'"undam:1handra Kundam) is present in
front of the temple. Lord 1handra get rid of his sins here y worshiping Lord
Shiva here. Hence the name Someswara swami. Shiva lingam change its color
according to the lunar month /&lac" at the time of Amavasya, 5hite at the time
Pournami). Annapurna mata temple is present in the second floor.
Ksheerarama /located in Pala"ol)3 Ksheera !ama Lingeswara swamy gave
Sudarshana cha"ra to Lord -ishnu here. ;pamanya 2aharshi also got oons
and mil" from Lord Shiva here. Hence the name Ksheera /mil") !amalingeswara
swami. The temple is near to &us stand. The temple 4opuram is very high and
we can see it from us stand. Parvathi is the goddess here.
Kumararama /located in Samal"ota)3 Kumara &himeswara swami temple is
present in Samal"ota. $t is aout <= "m distance from Ka"inada and aout 6 "m
distance from Samarla"ota !ailway station. $t is a very old temple under the
control of Archeological department. Lord Shiva is in the form of very ig Shiva
linga, and we can see Shiva linga through second floor. Kumara swami laid down
Shiva Linga here, hence the name Kumararamam. &ala Tripura Sundari devi is
the goddess here.
Arama
Name
Siva's Name Consort Name
Installor's
Name
Location District
Amararama
Amaralingeswara
Swamy
&ala 1hamundi"a
Ammavaru
$ndra Amaravathi 4untur
*ra"sharama &himesvara Swamy
2ani"yama
Ammavaru
Surya *ra"sharama
>ast
4odavari
Somarama Someswara Swamy
Sri !a?ara?eswari
Ammavaru
1handra &himavaram
5est
4odavari
Ksheerarama
Ksheera
!amalingeswara Swamy
Parvati Ammavaru -ishnu Pala"ol
5est
4odavari
&himarama
Kumara &himeswara
Swamy
&ala Tripurasundari
Ammavaru
Kumaraswamy Samal"ota
>ast
4odavari