Shri Kaleshwara Muktheeshwara Swamy Devasthanam in Kaleshwaram
Trilinga kshetram - Dakshina Gangotri - Triveni Sangamam
The etymology of Telugu
language is derived from Trilinga, as province of
Telugu speaking people is described as the territory between these three
places, namely ‘Kaleshwaram’ in Telangana, ‘Srisailam’ in Rayalaseema and ‘Draksharamam’
in Coastal Andhra known as ‘Trilinga Desam’,
"the country of the three Lingas".
Hence these three places are known as Trilinga Kshetras
and all the three Kshetras are considered as ‘Dakshina Jyotirlinga Kshetras’ that ornament the three
corners of Telugu Land.
‘Kaleshwaram
Kshetram’ is well known as ‘Dakshina Gangotri’ and ‘Dakshina kashi’,
it is significant because The Kaleshwaram Kshetram
is centre for Pushkarams which are organised once
in 12 years. In recent years Pranahita Pushkaram
in 2010, Saraswati Pushkaram in 2013, and Godavari Pushkaram in 2015 were held and celebrated
grandly.
The etymology of Telugu
language is derived from Trilinga, as province of
Telugu speaking people is described as the territory between these three
places, namely ‘Kaleshwaram’ in Telangana, ‘Srisailam’ in Rayalaseema and ‘Draksharamam’
in Coastal Andhra known as ‘Trilinga Desam’,
"the country of the three Lingas".
Hence these three places are known as Trilinga Kshetras
and all the three Kshetras are considered as ‘Dakshina Jyotirlinga Kshetras’ that ornament the three
corners of Telugu Land.
One of the three temples
of Lord Shiva of Trilinga
Desham is Kaleshwaram Kshetram in
Telangana. ‘Shri Kaleshwara Muktheeshwara Swamy
Devasthanam’ in Kaleshwaram
village of Mahadevpur mandal in Karimnagar district, is situated on the shores
of picturesque confluence of three rivers, where River ‘Godavari’
meets it’s tributary River ‘Pranahita’ and
third River ‘Saraswati’- believed to flow as Antarvaahini (invisible River) and hence it is called
as the ‘Dakshina Triveni Sangamam’. This Temple
belongs to 12th or 13th century A.D. and was built by the Chalukyas,
then renovated by the Kakatiyas.
The temple gets its name
‘Shri Kaleshwara Mukteswara Swamy mandiram’
because of the duel presence of Lord Shiva or Shri Mukteshwara and the Lord Yama (Yamaraja) or Shri Kaleshwar are
two Shiva Lingams found holding on to a single
pedestal or the Panavattam. The devotees here
first pray to Lord Yama and later to Lord Shiva. The Garba Alayam
has four Mahadwaras, with Nandi
before four dwaras leading to the Garba Alayam. The Devathas Jaya and
Vijaya who stand as dwarapala at
the entrance of the main temple.
It is curious to know
mystery about the two holes (like nostrils) in the Lord Shri
Mukteshwara Lingam which can never be filled with water. There is no
scientific evidence by researchers to explain it, but there are indications that
this water joins River Godavari through an
underground passage.
Another special
attraction of this temple is the interesting sculpture of the huge fish idol,
Lord Shri Brahma idol (resembles like Chaturmukha Lingam) it is now placed in the courtyard of
the temple, which were removed from temple ruins. The temple complex is
enclosed with prakara wall, many other primeval
deity idols were placed along this prakara wall,
within periphery of the temple premises, that includes: Goddess Shri Durga Devi, Shri Maha Ganapathi, Shri Veerabhadra, Shri
Vijaya Ganapathi, Goddess Shri Annapurna Devi, Shri Chinthamani Ganapathi, Shri
Swarnakarshana Kala Bhairava, Shri Anjaneya Swamy and Mathsya avathara and a Navagraha
mandapam. Before proceeding towards the main Garba
Alayam, one has to worship these deities first. All idols are of red
sandstone and belong to 11th and 12th centuries A.D.
Here the devotees take a
holy dip in the River Godavari, then visits the
main temple to offer prayers, first to Lord Shri Ganesha,
then Shri Kaleshwara Mukteswara Swamy and to Shri Shubhanandha Devi (divine form of Godess Shri Parvati Devi), then to Shri Prouda Swaraswathi Devi (at South-West corner of main Temple), then visits Shri Surya Narayana Swamy Devalayam (at North-East corner, at the entrance of main
Temple), then visits Yama Conam (Pass through it,
to get rid of Yamagandams), then visits Lord Shri Adi Muktheeshwara Swamy Devasthanam (is 2 km from Main Temple at West side ) which is
located between pleasant green fields - it is mandatory to visit this temple to
achieve/fulfill, fruit full desire of Kaleshwaram Trip
- described in Kaleshwara Skandam, then finally
visit to Shri Rama Alayam, Shri Dattatreya Swamy Alayam,
Shri Sangameshwara Alayam, Shri Subramnyaswamy Alayam, Shri Vijaya Ganapati
Alayam, Shri Godavari Maata Alayam, Shri Anjaneya Swamy Alayam and Shri Naga Devata Alayam, In and adjacent to main
temple. Visiting and worshiping ‘Kaleshwaram Kshetram’
is a great gift to mankind - as per ‘Shiva Puranam’. There are only three Sun Temples in the world, one here in Kaleshwaram Kshetram and other two are konark and Arasavalli, Shri Surya Devalayam.
‘Kaleshwaram
Kshetram’ is well known as ‘Dakshina Gangotri’ and ‘Dakshina kashi’,
it is significant because The Kaleshwaram Kshetram
is centre for Pushkarams which are organised once
in 12 years. In recent years Pranahita Pushkaram
in 2010, Saraswati Pushkaram in 2013, and Godavari Pushkaram in 2015 were held and celebrated
grandly.
Lord ‘Shri
Adi Muktheeshwara Swamy Devasthanam’ is about 2 km from the main
temple where rare stones of Vibhuti (sacred Ash)
is available abundantly which is applied as Tilak.
There are many other
sacred spots along the river Godavari at Kalesvaram, called ‘Ashta Tirthas’,
they are Brahma Tirtham, Pichuka Tirtham, Jnana Tirtham,
Pakshi Tirtham, Sangama Tirtham, Narasimha Tirtham, Hanumath Tirtham, and Vyasa
Tirtham. Every Tirtham has a legendary
story of its own.
The Temple is rich with
its primeval architecture, temple walls are sculptured with the figures of
dancers, archers, horse-riders, Garuda, Mithuna, Arjuna’s
Matsya Yantra, Gopikavastrapaharana, Skanda riding on a peacock,
lion in action at the back of the elephant holding its upraised trunk, male and
female devotees with folded hands, Nagas and Naginis etc., are depicted in different small panels.
Devotees from far-flung
places, including neighboring Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra , Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka State also visit the temple during the Maha
Sivaratri, Shiva Kalyanam, and Durga Navratri festivities. And also
throngs of pilgrims come here during karthika Masa-
‘Utsavams’. (in November/December). In fact, the temple’s greatness
and glory is mentioned in Skanda Purana as Sage Sri Shaunakadi speaks about this temple in his
discourse to other sages.
for more information
about ‘Kaleshwaram Kshetram’ please watch videos
from ETv2 Teerthayatra: Kaleshwaram Yatra, Part-1, Part-2, Part-3, Part-4, Part-5, Pushkar Special Story, CVR Spiritual,
V6 News: History of Triveni Sangam and Kaleshwaram Kshetram.
Hats off to V6 News, ETV2 and CVR Tv for their contribution.
To Reach this Temple: 
I recently traveled to Kaleshwaram
ReplyDeleteAncient temple
Traveled by bus from Hyderabad
https://traveltimings.in/hyderabad-kaleshwaram/