- Srisailam or Shrishailam is a holy town and mandal, situated in Nallamala Hills of Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India.
- It is on the banks of River Krishna, about 212 km south of Hyderabad.
- A form of Shiva and Devi Bhramaramba (a form of Parvathi) is located here and it is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples dedicated to Lord Shiva.
- Srisailam Dam, located about 212 km from Hyderabad and 132 km from Nandyal, is a multipurpose dam built across River Krishna and caters to the irrigation and power needs of the state.
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| Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple |
Gateways
- Tradition, literature as well as epigraphical sources state that the sacred hill of Srisailam has four gateways in the four cardinal directions namely,
- Tripurantakam is in Prakasam District in the east where God Tripurantakeshwara Swamy and Goddess Tripurasundari Devi are presiding deities.
- Siddhavatam is located on the bank of the river Penna in Kadapa District in the south where Jyothisideswara Swamy and Goddess Kamakshi Devi are the presiding deities.
- Alampur is on the bank of the river Tungabhadra in Mahaboobnagar District in the west where Navabrahma Alayas, a group of nine temples of the Chalukya period, are. This Kshetram is also the seat of Goddess Jogulamba, one of the eighteen Mahasakthis.
- Umamaheshwaram is located in Rangapur, Achampeta Mandal, Mahaboobnagar District in the North where God Umamaheswara Swamy and Goddess Umamaheswari Devi are the presiding deities.
Secondary gateways
- Besides the main gateways, there are four Secondary Gateways in the four corner directions:
- Eleshwaram: Located in Mahaboobnagar District now submerged in the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in the northeast with Eleswara Swamy and Katyani as presiding deities.
- Somashila: Located on the bank of the river Penna in the southeast with Skanda Someswara as the presiding deity.
- Pushpagiri: Located in Kadapa District in the southwest with Santhana Malleswara as presiding deity.
- Sangameswaram: Located at the confluence of the River Krishna and Tungabhadra in Kurnool District in the northwest and submerged at Srisailam Dam with Sangameswara as presiding deity. This temple has been re-built at Alampur.
Other places of interest in Srisailam
Akka Mahadevi caves :
- During the 12th century A.D. this cave appeared to have attained its present name after the famous ascetic, lyricist and philosopher, Akka Mahadevi who hailed from Karnataka. It is believed that Akka Mahadevi did penance in this cave and worshiped the Sivalinga that naturally existed in the deep and dark end of the cave.
- The A.P. Tourism Department has arranged motor boats for visitors to see these caves.
- Srisailam DamSrisailam Dam is built on the Krishna River and is 512 m long. It is set amidst beautiful natural scenery — ghats, cliffs, craggy ridges, plateaus and dense forests. It has twelve crest gates to hold a maximum water level of 885 ft (270 m). It has a live storage of 274 thousand million cubic feet.
- This reservoir was originally designed for hydropower generation only but was later converted to a multipurpose facility for water supply and irrigation.
- Due to the construction of Srisailam Hydro Electric Project across river Krishna, nearly 102 villages in Kurnool and Mahboobnagar districts along the banks of the rivers Krishna, Tungabhadra, Bhavanasi and their tributaries were submerged.
Panorama view of the hills at the Srisailam Dam.
Srisailam Sanctuary :
- Srisailam also boasts of one of the largest tiger reserves in India. This sanctuary covers an area of 3568 km². The terrain is rugged and winding gorges slice through the area. It is covered by dry deciduous forests with scrub and bamboo thickets.
- These forests provide shelter to a range of animals like the tiger, leopard, deer, sloth bear, hyena, jungle cat, palm civet, bonnet macaque and pangolin.
- The down waters of Srisailam Dam is home to a variety of crocodiles. The local government supports a breeding program which has been highly successful.
- Hemareddy Mallamma Temple at Srisailam was inaugurated on 26 May 2010.
- It was built at Srisailam by Karnataka Veerashaiva Reddy Samaj. In the adjoining ashram, one can see the place where she lived with cattle.
- The place is visited by lakhs of pilgrims who offer prayers at this temple. The temple is situated about a half kilometer on the western side of the Mallikarjuna Temple.
Mallela Teertham :
- Mallela Teertham is a waterfall in the middle of the dense forest. It lies 50 km before Srisailam; take a turn to the destination and drive on a bumpy, muddy road which is unmotorable during the rainy season and around 250 steps down the valley to the waterfall.
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Srisailam Entrance Gopuram |
Srisailam can be reached by road from Hyderabad. There is frequent bus service from Hyderabad to Srisailam every half an hour and also from Guntur.
By Road :
- Srisailam is very well connected by state-run bus service APSRTC (Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation).
- KSRTC from major cities/towns include Hyderabad, kakinada, Guntur, Tenali, Narsaraopet, Gulbarga, Davangare, Shivamogga, Addanki, Hospet, Machilipatnam, Vijayawada, Avanigadda, Cuddapah, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Devarakonda, Vinukonda, Kurnool, Ongole, Nellore, Mahanandi, Mantralayam, Anantapur, Tirupati, Chirala, Chitradurga, Bangalore, Markapur, Vishakapatnam Warangal, Podili, and Hubli.
- The nearest major towns are Narsaraopet and Kurnool.
Rail :
- The nearest railway stations are Markapur (62 km), Vinukonda (120 km) and Kurnool (190 km) on the Guntur–Hubli section.
- The nearest major railway stations are Narsaraopet, Kurnool and Nandyal.
Air :
- Rajiv Gandhi International Airport serving Hyderabad and located 195 km from Srisailam is the nearest international airport.