Someswara Temple of Bhimavaram, Andhra - a ''Pancharama kshetra''

Somarama temple of Bhimavaram,, Andhra en.wikipedia.org

Undertaking a holy pilgrimage to the five ancient temples of god Shiva in Andhra Pradesh called Pancharama kshetras is a popular one. God Shiva's linga was broken into five pieces and later got reunited and each lingam was installed by Surya, chandra, Vishnu, Kumaraswamy and Indira in separate temples. The shivalingam at these temples are the scattered parts of one single lingam, which has a strange history. In Someswara temple, Shiva linga was installed by demi god Soma (Chandran) to get free from a curse incurred from from a maharishi. These temples can be visited on any day, however the strong belief has been that visiting all the five temples on a single day in the holy month of Karthikai is very rewarding, bringing prosperity, welfare and peace of mind to the families. Tourists and pilgrims can avail themselves of special bus service provided by the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation during the month. The buses take them to all destinations on the same day..

Somarama temple of Bhimavaram (west Godhavari district) in Andhra dedicated to God Shiva, is a place of pilgrimage for the Hindus because it is one of the five Pancharama Kshetras of Shiva. Here Shiva's consort is Sri Rajarajeswari Ammavaru (Goddess Parvati). King Chalukya Bheema during the 4th century made much of the contribution toward construction of this temple. It is in Gunuipidi on the banks of Godavari.

Locations of Pancharama Kshetras

The temple tank- Pushkarani called chandrakundam or Somakundam is in front of the temple that has a tall entrance tower - gopuram. Visitors to the temple can not miss a 15-foot tall pillar with Nandi (bull) atop is in front of the temple.

Shiva's mount / vahana Nandi (a big one) is in the big mantap/ hall on the right side The stone Nandi is facing the sanctum as in other Shiva temples. The deity in the sanctum, Nandigeswara and the entrance tower are on a straight axis, a feature common in all Hindu temples. The mantap on the left side has many deities. Present in this temple are common deties of Anjaneya Swamy, Kumara Swamy, Navagraha, Sun God, Lord Ganesha. There are are five stone images of Nandi on the temple premises.

Somarama temple of Bhimavaram, Andhra trawell.in

Here, Shiva enshrined in the garbagriha is in the form of a linga, an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god in Shaivism. The Linga is an “outward symbol” of the “formless Reality.” An interesting aspect of this Shiva linga is it changes color depending on the aspect of moon - on the day of Pournami (full moon nights) it will be in white color and on Amavasya days (dark nights) its color is black. There is a shrine for goddess Annapurna, above Shiva's shrine on the first floor. Inside the temple the shrine has two tiers. The presence of Goddess Annapurna above Shiva's shrine is a rare one and it implies that Shiva has river deity Ganga on his Jadamudi and controlling its flow.

It is said that there are two Shivalingas in the temple namely Koteswara Swamy Linga and Someswara Swamy Linga installed by by demi gods Indira (god of rains) and Soma (Moon God) to get rid of their curse. But, the main shrine is the one installed by Chandran/Soma.

Maha Shivaratri (February/March) and Sarannavarathri- (September/October) are main festivals here that are celebrated with religious zeal and dedication. The temple is just 1.2 km from Bhimavaram new bus stand and about 65 km Eluru town.

Tit-Bits:

Pancharama Kshetras, Andhra Pradesh:

Locations of Pancharama Kshetras, Andhra en.wikipedia.org

01. Someswara Temple, Somarama, Bhimavaram.

02. Sri Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple, Kumararamam, Samalakota.

03. Bhimeswara Temple, Draksharama, Ramachandrapuram .

04. Amareswara Swamy Temple, Amararama, Amaravati.

05. Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple, Ksheeraram, Palakollu.

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somarama

https://www.go2india.in/ap/bhimavaram.php

https://www.trawell.in/andhra/rajahmundry/sri-someswara-temple-bhimavaram