Amararama or Amaralingeswara At Amaravati, on the banks of River Krishna, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, is one of the five Pancharama Shivalinga temples. The Shivalinga here was installed by Lord Indra as per legend. The Sivalinga here is very tall – 15 feet high marble Shiva Lingam. So the archakas climb on a pedestal platform, and perform to do the poojas. The Shivalinga has a red stain on it. According to legend the Shivalinga used to grow in size and to stop this it was struck by a nail and the linga started bleeding,
The consort of Lord Amaralingeswara is Bala Chamundika.
The temple complex has other temples of Mahishasura Mardini, Veerabhadraswamy, Omkareswara Swamy, Guru Dattareya, and Agasteswara Swamy, Vinayaka, Kalabhairava, Anjaneya, Nagendraswamy, Kumaraswamy along with the statue of Lord Krishna under a tree, Kasi Viswanatha, Mallikarjuna, Pushpadanteswara Swamy and Kalahasthiswara.
Amaravati is a historic place. It was the capital of Satavahanas from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE. After them the Andhra Ikshvakus and later Pallava kings ruled it. Later Eastern Chalukyas and Telugu Cholas ruled it. It also became the of the Vishnukundina empire. Later the Kota Kings were in control of Amaravathi during the medieval times. Kota kings were beaten by by the Kakatiya kings in the 11th century. The present Amaravathi was founded by Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu in 1790.
Amaravati is selected as the capital of Andhra Pradesh afte Andhra pradesh was divided in to 2 states Andhra and Telangana. Construction is going on.
Amaravati derives its name from the famous Amarāvatī Stupa is a Buddhist monument built in the third century BCE.
The place is a historic Buddhist site also. It has the famous Amaravati Stupa built in the 2nd century BCE. Many of the beautiful carvings from the ruins of the Stupa are in the British museum, Chennai museum and Calcutta musium. Recently the huge Dhyana Buddha statue in Dhyana posture was built.
Timings: Morning: 6.00 am to 12.00 noon. Evening: 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm.
Festivals: The important festivals here are the Mahashivaratri, Bahula Dasami, Navaratri and the Kalyana Utsavas.
How to reach:
By Air: The nearest airport is present at Gannavaram, Vijayawada 60 km.
By Train: Vijayawada 15 km Guntur 36km and Pedakurapadu 43 km.
By Road: Amaravathi is well connected with nearby cities such as Vijayawada, Guntur, Mangalagiri and Hyderabad.
