History, Importance, Interesting Facts, Facilities and Travel Guide of Sri Ksheera Rama Temple, Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh
Sri Ksheera Rama Temple or Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy temple is solely dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Palakollu of West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the temple of the five Pancharama Kshetras of Andhra Pradesh and dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is believed that this Lingam of Lord Shiva was placed by Lord Vishnu. It is said that staying one day in Ksheera Rama is equivalent to staying one year in Varanasi.
As per the legend of this place and existence of Lord Shiva here is, during Tarakasura vadha, the Amrutha Atma Linga which was theft by demon Tarakasura. Due to this he was unbeatable by any of the God, then as per advice of Lord Vishnu, Kartikeya – Kumara swami son of Lord Shiva and Parvati broke this into five pieces and one of the piece was fallen down here. The piece of Shiv linga was installed and worshiped here by Lord Vishnu here and famous as Pancharama place of southern India.
The Raja Gopuram is 120 feet in height with 9 floors, there are 72 pillars made up of black stone in the temple Mandapam, which makes one of the tallest temple towers in Andhra Pradesh. It is believed that temple was constructed in 9th century. The Lingam is milky white in colour and the one of the tallest Lingam in India. The Shiva Lingam can be seen from all the four sides through windows. It also has a shrines of Sun God, Parvati, Lakshmi, Nagareswara Lingam, Sarasvati, Radha Krishna, Nataraja and so on.
The technique of the construction resembles of the Chalukya period. Gopuram was constructed under the rule of Musunuri Nayak’s who had their bases at Warangal and Rajamundry during 15th – 16th Century. Maha Shivratri is very well celebrated festival here with thousands of devotees comes to seek the blessings.
How to reach – Temple is very near to the Palakollu Terminus. You can also hire private vehicles to reach the temple. Major city buses go via the Palakollu. The nearest Railway Route is in the town itself at a distance of 1.7kms called Palakollu Railway Station. The nearest airport is Rajahmundry Airport at a distance of 81kms and by road At a distance of 1.7 km from Palakollu Railway Station, 85 km from Eluru, 67 km from Rajahmundry, 138 km from Vijayawada, 97 km from Kakinada, 22 km from Bhimavaram and 258 km from Visakhapatnam
