Draksharamam temple in East Godavari
Draksharamam temple
Draksharamam situated in East Godavari district is famous as ‘Dakshina Kasi’. Draksharamam is one of the three Shiva kshetras which brought the name ‘Trilinga Desam’ to Andhra Pradesh. It is also one of the important religious place in Pancharamas and is one among Ashtadasa Shakti peethas. Not only these, there are many specialties for Draksharamam.
Draksharamam legend
Once Daksha Prajapati intended to perform a Yagna and invites everybody except his son-in-law Lord Shiva. Sati Devi goes to her fathers house even though they are not invited. Due to the insults she has to bear at her maternal house, she threw herself into fire and dies. Angered by this Lord Shiva created Veerabhadra from his Jatajhutam to destroy the Yagnavatika. Lord Shiva performs Vilaya Tandavam carrying the body of Sati on his shoulder. To pacify him Lord Vishnu cuts the body of Sati into 18 pieces with his Sudarshan Chakra. The places where the body parts of Sati has fallen are the Ashtadasha Shaktipeethas. Draksharamam is the 12th in Ashtadasa Shakti peethas. Gradually the name Dakshavatika became Draksharamam. Parvati Devi is worshipped as Manaikyamba here.
There is also a legend about the Pushkarini in Draksharamam temple. Once Lord Shiva was impressed with the penance done by Tarakasura and gives his Atma lingam. Tarakasura become proud with this and starts harassing all. As per the request of Gods, Parvathi gets married to Lord Shiva and gives birth to Lord Kumara Swamy. Lord Shanmukha was made the head of army of Gods and goes for fighting with Tarakasura. Lord Shiva advices Kumara Swamy to destroy the Atma lingam in the neck of Tarakasura to kill him. Kumara Swamy does that and kills the demon. The Atma lingam broke into five pieces and falls in five places. These are the Pancharamas. The Pancharamas are Amareswar in Amaravati installed by Lord Indra, Someswara in Bhimavaram installed by Chandra, Ksheera Ramalingeswara in Palakol installed by Lord Rama, Bhimeswara in Samarlakot installed by Kumara Swamy and the fifth is the Draksharamam. The Linga at Draksharamam is Swayambhu. Saptarishis pray to Godavari to purify the lingam at Draksharamam. Since Godavari was brought here by Saptarishis, the Pushkarini in the Draksharamam temple premises is called the Sapta Godavari.
There are many legends as the above to describe the specialty of Draksharamam. Draksharamam is the first in Trilings Kshetras. The other two are Sri Kalahasti and Srisailam.
Draksharamam is situated at a distance of 32 kms from Kakinada and 60 km from Rajahmundry. The present temple was built by Chalukya Bhima of East Chalukya Dynasty between 7th and 8th centuries. This temple is famous for its sculptures and inscriptions.
The presiding deity at Draksharamam is the 14 feet Bhimeswara Swamy which is a Spatikakara lingam. The bottom part of the lingam appears in black color and the upper portion appears in white color. This is said to be a symbol of Ardhanariswara Tatwam. Abhishekam, pujas are performed from the second storey of the temple to the lingam.
In other Ashtadasa Shakti Peethas, the idol of Goddess and the Sri Chakra Yanthram are kept separately. But at Draksharamam, the idol of Goddess Parvati is on the Sri Chakram. Worshipping the Goddess gives the result of worshipping both the Goddess and Sri Chakra.
Draksharamam temple is spread in 12 acre land with high surrounding wall. Dundi Ganapati and Natya Ganapati appear on either sides of the main entrance. The Kshetrapalaka of this temple is Lakshmi Narayana Swamy. There are many other temples for Virupaksha Swamy, Visweswara Swamy along with Annapurna, Sapta Matrikas, Surya Narayana swamy, Subrahmanyeswar, Lakshmi Ganapati, Brahma etc.
Devotees throng Draksharamam in Kartika masam and Dusshera days. Bhimeswara Jayanti, Subrahmanya Sasti and Maha Shivaratri are celebrated grandly in the month of Margasira. On Bhishma Ekadasi day, the marriages of Bhimeswara, Lakshmi Narayana and Lord Surya at a time on the same venue. There are many accommodation facilities and free food facility in Draksharamam.