As per Skandapuran, all 12 jyotirlingas of lord Shiva are enlisted in the Dwadash Jyotirling Stotra as follows:
According to this Shloka following are the 12 jyotirlingas spread in all over India:
1. Somnath Jyotirling in Somnath Distt. Junagarh (Gujarat).
2. Mallikarjuna Jyotirling in Srisailam Distt. Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh)
3. Mahakaleshwar Jyotirling in Ujjain Distt. Ujjain (M.P.)
4. Mamleshwar Jyotirling in Omkareshwar Distt. Khandwa (MP)
5. Vaijnath/Vaidyanath Jyotirling in village Parli Distt. Parbhani (Maharashtra)
6. Bhimashankar Jyotirling in village Bhimashankar Tehsil Kher Distt. Pune (Maharashtra)
7. Rameshwar Jyotirling in Rameshwaram Island Distt. Ramanathpuram (Tamil Nadu)
8. Nageshwar Jyotirling in Nageshwar (Dwarka) Distt. Jamnagar (Gujarat)
9. Vishweshwar Jyotirling in Varanasi Distt. Varanasi (UP)
10. Triyambak Jyotirling in Nashik (Maharashtra)
11. Kedareshwar Jyotirling in Kedarnath Distt. Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand)
12. Ghrushneshwar Jyotirling village verul near Ellora Distt. Aurangabad (Maharashtra )
The 12 Jyotirlinga Temples
The 12 Jyotirlingas and their Location in India
We have decided to visit and have darshan of at least one jyotirling each year, and in this series our last jyotirling yatra was Somnath & Nageshwar (Dwarka). During this yatra we had decided to visit Shrisailam as our next visit and therefore we finalized our tour in the month of October, last year (2010). Since the plan was final, so I got our to and fro reservation well in advance (2.5 months). The tickets were from Bhopal to Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express 2708) & return tickets from Chennai to Bhopal (Lucknow Express 6093). The members of trip were I, my wife Kavita, my 11 yrs. Daughter Sanskriti & my 4 yrs. son Vedant. The trip was seven days from 17th Oct. to 23rd Oct.
After getting reservation done, the reverse counting was started and we were eagerly waiting for our journey day to come. Finally the day came and we started on 17th from our home at 10:00 AM and reached Bhopal by bus at 05:00 PM. The trains departure time was 05:55 PM.
17.10.2010 (First Day)
We had some refreshment and got some eatables packed from Bhopal railway station. The train was right time, we boarded the train and started our journey by the holy name of lord Shiva.
18.10.2010
It was an overnight journey and we reached Secunderabad at 09:00 AM. We got down from train and took an auto rickshaw for Jubilee bus stand. From there the buses of APSRTC ply at a good frequency for Shrisailam.
Here I feel it necessary to give you a brief introduction of Srisailam:
Srisailam is a sacred town located in the dense forest of Nallamalla hills in the northeastern area and on the banks of river Krishna in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. It houses the famous Shri Bharamarambha Mallikarjunaswamy temple which is the adobe of one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of lord Shiva. It is situated at 235 kms from Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Temple is located on a 457 mtr high hill and has Sri Mallikarjunaswamy as a presiding diety
We boarded a bus of APSRTC for Srisailam at 10:00 AM from Jubilee bus stand Secunderabad, the bus took us first the Imliban bus stand at Hyderabad stayed there for approx. 1 hour and then started for Srisailam at 11:00 AM.
From Hyderabad to Srisailam journey usually takes 7 to 8 hours. The entire road is covered with thick forests of Nallamalla and offers the magnificent view of ghats and jungle.
Entrance to Srisailam
Welcome to Srisailam
Srisailam
Finally we reached Srisailam at 8:00 PM. After getting down from bus we asked the local people for a good place to stay, and they suggested us to take the guest house of Mallikarjunaswamy trust. There are various guest houses managed by Temple trust in different name. We stayed in “Chandeeswara Sadan”. It was a good room with two beds and attached lat. Bath.
Our Guest House “Chandeeswara Sadan” in Srisailam
Another view of Our Guest House
Since we were very tired after a continuous journey of 32 hours (From our home near Indore to Srisailam) and also we were very hungry as it was Monday and was a fast of both of us. We first looked for some north Indian food in Srisailam town but after a search of half an hour we could not get the same, another big problem was language, the local people were not able to speak in hindi I was failed to understand whether they were really not knowing hindi or were pretending to because it is a famous pilgrimage centre and lots of people from other states visit here daily. We felt that nobody was interested in entertaining us so we managed to eat whatever we were offered.
Well, after dinner we gone to bed and because we were badly tired from a very long journey we slept immediately.
19.10.2010
We woke up at around 7:00 AM in the morning and decided to go to temple for darshan and abhishek of lord. The temple was some 1 km. from our guest house. The means of local transport here is auto rickshaws and they are easily available anywhere in the town.
We proceeded to the temple and came to know while reaching the temple that the charge of ticket for early darshan is Rs. 100 per person and charge of Abhishek is Rs. 600, we paid for both and after being in queue for approx. 1 hour we reached inside the temple. The view inside the temple is fascinating; there is a huge statue of Nandi in front of sanctum sanctorum of jyotirlina. Photography inside the temple is strictly prohibited. So we couldn’t take photos inside the temple.
The market in front (around 300 mtrs away) of the main temple.
Market on the street just before main temple
Market on the street just befor main temple.
Market on the street just befor main temple.
So after some shopping we preceded towards Lord Mallikarjuna Temple. The entrance to main temple is not allowed from front main gate, one can reach temple from the queue complex only which is from the left side of the main gate.
The temple looks very beautiful because of its magnificent architecture and very tall and attractive gopuram.
View of Shri Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple.
In front of Shri Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple.
View of the inside temple from main gate
Shri Mallikarjuna Jyotirling (With thanks from kamalkapoor.com)
In front of Temple
After a very good darshan and Abhishek we came back our guest house, since we were very tired we gone to a very sound sleep.
20.10.2010
In the morning we planned to take a sightseeing tour to the places of interest around Srisailam. We hired a tempo for Rs. 150 for sightseeing around Srisailam. The auto driver played music system in auto, but the songs were going beyond our head as they all were in Telugu and we were not able to understand even a single word. Well we reached our first destination Sakshi ganapati.
Sakshi Ganapati:
It is a temple of Lord Ganapati present beside the main road before arriving to Srisailam. The temple is small and old.
It is believed that lord Ganesh records the names of pilgrims who come to Srisailam and shows the list to Lord Shiva so that they will be blessed. All the pilgrims who come to Srisailam should visit him and pray to enter their names in the list.
The Auto we hired for sightseeing
Small Shop in front of Sakshi Ganapati temple.
Sikharam:
Sikharam is the most important of all sightseeing places in Srisailam. It is the highest peak of the Srisailam Mountain range and is 2830 feet above sea level, we climbed up the steps and stood on the peak to have an aerial view of the Srisailam temple and the surrounding mountains. Skanda purana tells that one can attain Mukti by just seeing Sikharam. There is also a temple of Shiva built here and are hundreds of small shivalingams inside this beautiful temple. There is a view point to see the Mallikarjuna temple from here.
Shikharam a mountain from where lord Mallikarjunaswamy temple can be seen
The beautiful Shivlingam, Trishul and Damru fabricated on Shikharam
The Shiv Temple on Shikharam with hundreds of Small Shivlingams
Small Shivlings
After enjoying beautiful mountain Shikharam we moved to our next destination:
Paladhara – Panchdhara:
We then proceeded to Paladhara-Panchadhara. We climbed down a hill to a spot where there is a small waterfall. The water is said to have medicinal properties. Here there is a small temple dedicated to the Hindu guru and Saint Adi Shankaracharya of the 8th century who meditated here. The surroundings is thick with vegetation and there are locals selling herbal plants, seeds, roots and bark that claim cure to some of the common diseases.
The natural beauty
The Natural Beauty
The thick forest
On the steps to Shikharam
After this cherishing sightseeing tour in and around Srisailam we returned back to our guest house, took our dinner and gone to bed as next day we had to start our journey for Tirupati. Thus ended our memorable trip to Srisailam. This place is a paradise for devotees and nature lovers. Remaining story will be soon reached to you as Srisailam Tirupati Tour Part 2.
Very Informative post.
i read the fine details about your journey,its is very helpful to everyone who is planning to gomallikarjun yatra.i thanks for it & pray to god to keep yoy and your family in hale and hearty.god bless on you
thank u mukesh for giving such a lot of information about srisailam.its very helpful.may lord siva bless ur family.
Thanks Mahesh for liking the post.
Thanks.
Mukesh Ji,
Great Detailed post . Would be really helpful for someone planning a trip to Srisailam .
Nice Pics.
Sahil
Sahil,
Thank you very much for your sweet words.
Mukesh Bhalse.
Hyderabad is one of the best place in south india to live. There are some Resorts In Hyderabad viz.RoyaleRiviera Resort, Button Eyes Resort where you can enjoy a lot on weekends with your family.
Thank you Mukesh for taking us to Srisailam. I would imagine that it would be a very useful post to someone who is planning a trip to Srisailam. Thank you.
Nandan,
Thank you very much for appreciation. This has all become possible because of your kind cooperation and guidence.
Thanks.
chachu give name some more places
This is really a very inspiring post and very informative. Every picture looking very nice.
Thank you for sharing this journey with us.
Ashish,
Thank you very much for liking the post.
Thanks.
Very informative article. Iam also planning a yatra to Sri Sailam with my family (from Mumbai) in June end and this information will be a lot helpful to me. Thanks
Dear Bhupendra Ji,
Thank you very much for your sweet words. If you need any further information on Srisailam please feel free to contact me on my e mail id mukeshbhalse74@yahoo.co.in
Thanks.
please make 12 jyotir linga temples in each and every acre of india
in each and every village
in each and every highway
in each and every town
in each and every city
in each and every border
in each and every mountain
in each and every forests
in each and every place of public interests
in each and every metro
in each and every state
all over india
in all th 82 crore acres of india
in all the 33 lac sq kms of india
jai shree shiv shankar
12 jyotir linga prasana
har har har mahadev ki jai ho !!!
please make replica of shiva temples in 12 jyotirlinga
also make temples ,ashrams ,for devotees and yatris
and also make charitable shiva charitable trusts all over india
with shiva charitable hospitals for the poor and the needy
all over india
Great Informative Article.In Srisailam other places of interests to visit they are Akka Mahadevi caves,
Srisailam Dam, Srisailam Sanctuary,etc.
Thanks.
Mukesh Ji Namaskar ……….
Very devotional post . The description of the temples were astounding….
i had been to Srisailam in 1998 when i was in my 6th or 7th grade …. the experience then was amazing with the Krishna river flowing in the Nallamalla Hills during the monsoons.
Mukesh Ji you should have captured pictures of the Srisailam dam …. Krishna river gorge and the Ptaal Ganga ………. i hope you might have paid a visit to these places in Srisailam …….. any ictures if you have kindly share . It will be highly commendable.
Cheers
Giriraj,
Thank you very much for going through the post and appreciation. No because of lack of time we couldn’t visit the Dam and Patalganga.
Thanks.
Mukeshji,
I’m visiting Malikarujana Temple in June and your blog saved me hours of research on net to find necessary info. Thanks a lot. What’s the earliest time for Abhishek Pooja and how long did it take in the morning for you to perform Abhishek Pooja and Darshan? Also what time should I absolutely leave from Sri Sailam to reach HYD airport by 4 pm? I’ll be renting a car from Hyderabad a day before.
Mr. Nagar,
Thank you very much for liking the post. Abhishek in temple starts from 6.00 AM and usually it takes 2.5 hours (It includes time consumed in queue to get the abhishek receipt from counter and time taken in queue to main temple garbhgrah).
In our case the APSRTC bus took us to Srisailam from Hyderabad in 7 hours, by your hired vehicle you can save 1 hour or more, but minimum 5 hour it will take, so keep sufficient time in order to reach airport at right time.
Best of luck for your trip.
Thanks.
Some updates for future travelers:
Just visited temple on June 18, 2012. If you want to book Abhishek Pooja in advance then queue up in the line a evening(7:30pm-9:30pm) before the pooja day at ticket counter and pay Rs. 1000 instead of Rs. 600 if booked on the same day. It was too crowded and most chaotic way to distribute pooja tickets. No one cared to help if you spoke in Hindi/English. I took my driver everywhere to translate and help me. It was nice to see temple employing lots of handicapped people but the same people did not appreciate their appointment and were just rude, careless and arrogant. One of them told me to cancel my flight to US and fly next day when I(my driver translated in Telugu) if we can get the ticket for Abhishek Pooja by 10am to catch a flight out of Hyderabad by 6pm. It was the shortest Abhishek Pooja I ever performed(about three minutes) but I felt so happy and fortunate that I got to touch God and pour some Gangajal on him which I had brought with me from Gangotri.
I stayed at brand new guest house at Shivaji Spooti Kendra(Chattarapati Shivaji Temple) about 1 km away from Sri Sailam temple. It was basic but very clean. AC room was Rs. 650 and Non AC was Rs. 400. Only negative at present that there was no canteen. In couple of months, they’ll have kitchen ready and serve food to guests at no extra charge. Food will be sponsored by donation money(Rs. 6000 something) from the devotee for their loved ones b’day/anniversary etc.. I promised to stay back at same place in future and sponsor food for a day.
Mr. Nagar,
Thank you very much for your valuable feedback. It would certainly add value to this post. I pray from god to provide you all the resources necessary to complete your remaining 3 Jyotirlings. After completion of these 12 jyotirlings, one must visit Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Thanks.
Dear Mukeshji,
I’m starting Kailash Mansarovar yatra in 10 days so first will be the visit to Pashupatinathji temple before starting the yatra on July 3rd. Thanks a lot for info. and please share details on what to do(Any special puja/rituals etc..) after I complete visits to all Jyotirlinga and pay visit to Pashupatinathji temple. I’ll sure visit Pashupatinathji temple after all 12 jyotirlingas again.
God has been very kind to me and helping me along the way – see I found you here and got more info. My first jyotirlinga visit(Kedarnathji) was just in July 2010 and now I’ve completed 9/12. Moreover, I was planning for Mt. Kailash Mansarovar Yatra for past six years and it is finally happening. What more can I ask for?
I’m also visiting Janakpur for a day on July 2nd.
Like many of you, I’ve decided to visit all 12 Jyotirlingas and that too on Mondays, shivji’s day and perform Abhishek Pooja and/or at least pour Gangajal which I collected from Gangotri during Chardham Yatra in July 2010. I’ve visited nine so far and hope to complete remaining three(Kashi Vishvanath(Varanasi), Vaidhyanath(Jarkhand) and Rameshwaram(Tamil Nadu).
Hi Mr. Mukesh
I also live in a place near Indore (at Nagda), I am planning to go to SriSailam, then Tirupati & Bhimashankar in last week of July 2012. Your description is amazing. I’ll be very pleased if you can send your mobile no on my email id (but do not share ur no. on this platform publicly) , so that I can discuss some queries regarding this tour.
Rakesh Sharma
Assistant Manager, IT
Grasim, Nagda, MP
Hi Rakesh,
I am glad to read that you belong to Grasim Nagda. Also its great that you have planned to go to Srisailam & Tirupati. I’ll provide you my cell no over email.
Thanks.
rakesh.m.sharma@adityabirla.com
Rakeshji,
For Bhimashanker, I would suggest that you go there for Mangala Aarti(around 4:30am). reason? A big one – You’ll be able to see and touch idol in its true form only around that time. Around 5:30am, they’ll cover the idol with silver cover and will let devotee perform Abhishek Pooja for rest of the day.
If you’ve time, you can also visit Traymbakeshwar and Grishneshwar nearby. I visited all three on same day last November and was fortunate to perform Abhishek Pooja at each location.
deer mukesh ji hari om. god shiva bless you and your family for having very good explanation of srisailam bramaramba devsathan. person like me who has language problem in andherapardesh can easily travel to srisailam after studying your detail. your description is very pleasing and amazing. i also visiting malikaarjun temple on august 24 2012. your information will be very helpful to me.
Ashwani Ji,
Thank you very much such lovely words. I hope you enjoyed your trip to Srisailam.
Thanks.
mukesh ji,
thanks for your valuable detailed information for darshan at srisailam. we are planning to visit the same around mid of september so just want to know that can we travel to srisailam from hyderabad and have a darshan with abhishek pujan and return to hyderabad, on the same day.
Navneet ji,
I am extremely sorry to say that I couldn’t reply you in time but now for the sake of benefit of other people I would like to mention here that by a bus from Hyderabad to Srisailam it takes around 6 to 7 hours so it is very difficult for anyone to go Srisailam and come back to Hyderabad on the same day.
Thanks.
i m planning to visit srisailam fro 12-Aug to 14 Aug ‘2012 pl give phone nos for accommodation.
Rajes,
You can avail the phone numbers of temple trust from the official website of Sri Mallikarjunaswamy temple.
Thanks.
Very informative post. godd job indeed.
Hello,
Thanks for sharing such a valuable information, I had couple of questions.
-> can we book the tickets for Abhishek is Rs. 600 in advance or we have to book it in temple only.
-> when performing abhishesk can we offer water to shivling
-> is there a dress code for performing Abhishek
Vijay,
Thank you very much for your sweet words. Now answers to your questions:
1. No the abhishek can’t be booked in advance. After reaching shri mallikarjunaswamy temple, you need to be in a queue for at least half an hour (Based on crowd) to take the ticket for Abhishek then again you have to be in another queue to take abhishek samagri for which you have paid Rs.600.
2. Yes, while performing Abhishek you can offer water to Jyotirlinga. With this Rs.600 ticket you will be allowed to enter in sanctum sanctorum(Garbhgriha)with an authorized priest who will make you perform abhishek there for 5 to 8 minutes. Please keep in mind that without Rs. 600 ticket you will be obliged to have darshan of jyotirlinga from 10 ft distance and that too for a couple of seconds only, so it will be a wise decision to take the ticket for abhishek, it will also help you to enter temple by a VIP queue which will save your time almost to 75%.
3. Yes there is a dress code, you’ll have to put off your shirt and to wear a towel type cloth on you shoulders which will be provided to you complementary from the temple in lieu of the Rs. 600 ticket and also you’ll be given 2 laddoos as a prasad free of cost, which costs Rs. 100 if you want them to procure separately.
we felt very glad to read your article about mallikarjuna temple of shrishailam and tirupati balaji and by reading your articles we are very hurried to go to shrisailam and visit tirupati
Thanks
Mukesh ji
it is really a very informative, interesting post……one who’ll plan his visit to mallikarjun according to this post will really cherish the visit….
I heartfeltly thankyou for your kind deed towards others
Mukesh Sir…
Hi,
Thanks for the information shared by you about Jyotirlings, i have visited 2 jyotirlings in Maharastra (Ghrushneshwar Jyotirling, Triyambak Jyotirling) with the information shared in your posts.
Thanks a lot Dinesh for your encouraging comment…..
i rqst u to tell me sme near turist place from sreesailam….pls
Sorry I cant tell u
Very informative, would you please tell me How Chandeeswara Sadan guest house be booked and what are the charges