Shaktipeethas.org

The Shrine of Lord Shiva in Amaravathi is named as Amara lingeswara deriving at name from the first worshipping deity Indra who is the king of deities. As soon as the linga fell here it was growing longer and longer towards the sky. Then Devendra planted a nail in it’s top and it stopped growing then the shiva linga bleeded and those blood markings are now revealed as stripes on the linga.

This shrine of Lord Shiva was developed by Sathavahanas. Amaravathi was their capital city. It was also called Dhanyakataka & Dharnikota in those days. This shrine of Lord shiva contains many efficiently carved sculptures in the premises of the temple. This shrine is also one of the Datta kshetras where Lord Dattatreya is worshipped. River Krishna flows adjacent to the temple of Lord Amareshwar and devotees take holy bath in this river. The specialty of pooja here is Abhisheka done from the upstairs, as the tip of the shiva cannot be reached from the ground level. Maa here is in the form of Bala Chamundeswari and is worshipped with great devotion.

First

Previous

Next

There is a real story in vogue about the divine power of Amareshwar.
Long ago some people belonging to specific sect called chenchu, disobeyed the king and looted the surrounding villages. It was called chenchula peturi. Then the king was angry and ordered his army to execute the people of the sect. The soldiers made the people to stand in a row and chopped their head mercilessly. Lord Amareshwar wanted to punish the king for his sin of kílling the people mercilessly. The king became blind and was unable to eat food because of the illusion that the food seemed to be worms. With time the king became weak and was suffering a lot. Then the ministers of the king called for great pundits to their kingdom and pleaded them to show a way to get rid of their kings suffering. Then the pundits revealed the fact that the king was cursed for his sin of kílling innocent people. They also advised that lord Amarashwar can only bless the king, they advised the king to undertake Rudra abhisheka for lord Amareswara for 11 days 11 times a day which can make him relieved of his suffering. The king was happy and did the Rudraabhisheka for Lord Amaraswara with great devotion. He was blessed by Lord Amareswara and he got his vision and was able to eat. Lord Amaralingawara also appeared in dream of the king and ordered the to place shiva linga in the place he kílled the innocent people. The king obeyed the order and he placed 108 shiva linga in the places and built temples. It is believed that worshipping those shiva linga prevents the sin of kílling someone by mistake.

How to reach Amaravati:
Amaravati is at 35kms distance from Guntur. There are so many non-stop buses from Guntur. It takes about 45 minutes journey. Buses will leave us at temple. In Karthika masam APSRTC maintains speacial Pancharamas tour buses to cover them all in a single day.
There is no Railway station in Amaravati. Nearest Railway station is in Guntur. And Nearest Airport is at Gannavaram, near Vijayawada.
See Amaravati map

Amaravati sightseeing and tourist attractions :
Amaravati has great importance in Religious, Spiritual and Historical aspects. It is one of the Pancharamas, capital city of Sathavahana kingdom in the name of Dhanyakatakam and is world famous for its Buddha stupa.

Amaralingeswara swamy temple :It is the main temple in Amaravati present on the bank of Krishna river. The temple campus is very large and it has three circles. In the first circle we can see temples of Mahishasura mardini, Veerabhadraswamy, Guru Dattareya, Omkareswara swamy and Agasteswara swamy. In the second circle we can see temples of Vinayaka, Anjaneya, Nagendraswamy,Kalabhairava, Kumaraswamy and an idol of Lord Krishna under a tree. From this circle we have climb some steps up to reach third circle. In this circle we will see temples of Kalahasthiswara, Mallikarjuna, Kasi Viswanatha and Pushpadanteswara swamy. In the center of theese three circles Amaralingeswara swamy temple is present. Amaralingeswara swamy is in the form of a tall Shivalinga. We cannot see the base of Shivalinga as the temple was built in two stairs and ground floor hiding it. Amaralingeswara swamy is present on Krouncha giri, a small hill, because of that reason Krishna river will never enter in to temple of Amaralingeswara swamy. We will not see that hill, but if we observe temple surroundings we can identify some hill rocks in the midst of Krishna river.

Bala Chamundeswary mata :This temple is present in the hall of Amaralingeswara swamy, facing towards south. She is the shakti of Amaralingeswara swamy.

Venugopala Swamy :Venu Gopala swamy temple is present in inner circle of main temple. We should visit this temple to get complete results of Amaralingeswar swamy darshan.

Sai Baba temple :This a new temple built on the bank of Krisha river. A big idol of Lord Hanuman in Dhyanrupa is an attraction of this temple.

Lalitha peetham :This temple is present beside Saibaba temple.

Srirama temple :This temple is present in the center of Amaravathi town.

Buddha stupa :This is world famous Buddha stupam. Lord Buddha's dhatu was found here. Here we can see a very big stupa in demolished stage. This place is under the control of Archeological department. According to Buddhists Lord Buddha taught Kalachakra Tantra here to a King in the form of Kala purusha. Kalachakra festival was also conducted here by 14th Dalai Lama, his holiness. We can see large size bricks which are used to construct that stupa. This is a sacred place for Buddhists and so many Buddhists are coming from all over the world to see this place.Buddha stupa is present nearer to Busstand. Now Lord Budha dhathu is kept in Hyderabad museum.

Buddha statue :This is a very big statue of Lord Buddha present in Dhanyakatakam village of Amaravati town. We can see this statue from out side Amaravati too. Construction of this statue was started under Buddha project when Kalachakra festival was conducted in Amaravathi (2005).

Amaravathi museum :This museum is present beside Buddha sthupa. We can see historical importance of Amaravthi here. There are so many beautiful sculptures present in Amaravathi museum. We can see pots and vessels used in previous days. All the articles found in excavation of Buddha stupa are kept in this museum. A large Ox idol was found in Amaralingeswara swamy temple campus excavations. This is a very beautiful white colored marble stone idol and kept as center of attraction in Amaravathi museum.

There is another story in Panditaradhya Charitham telling the importance of Amaravathi.
Sripati Panditaradhya is an incarnation of Lord Mallikarjuna swamy. He born directly from Srisaila Mallikarjuna swamy jyotirling in Shivarathri at Lingodbhava time. He started Surya Simhasana Panditaradhya peetham and spread devotion on Lord Shiva. When he was roaming in Kondaveedu area, the king tested his greatness. Some Buddhist monks misguided the king. The king removed the eyes of Sripati Panditaradhya three times, but Sripati Panditaradhya got his eyes normally two times. On third time the king removed the eyes and destroyed them and also pour Calotropis milk in sockets of Panditaradhya's eyes. But Panditaradhya again got his eyes, but he was able to see only with one eye. After that when he visited Amaralingeswara swamy he got complete vision. This is a main story in Panditaradhya charitham explaining the greatness of Jagadguru Sripati Panditaradhya and Amaralingeswara swamy.