Pancharama Kshetras

The Pancharama Kshetras (Telugu: పంచారామలు, romanized: Pañcārāmalu) or the Pancharamas, are a group of five ancient Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Siva, located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. According to regional legend, the lingams in these temples, referred to as aramas, are believed to have been created from a single, unified Siva lingam.^[1]

Amararamam

Draksharamam

Somaramam

Ksheeraramam

Kumararamam

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Locations of Pancharama Kshetras

History

The Pancharama temples are situated at Draksharamam in Konaseema district, Samalkot in Kakinada district, Amaravathi in Palnadu district, and Palakollu and Bhimavaram in West Godavari district. Except for the temple at Amaravathi, all the temples are located within the Godavari region. Historical records, including inscriptions and literary references, indicate that these five Siva temples, positioned along the banks of the Godavari and Krishna rivers, have been collectively referred to as the Pancharamas since the 12th century.^[2]

According to legend, the Pancharamas were founded by Indra. However, these five Siva temples were not established simultaneously, and no foundation inscriptions exist to provide definite dates for their construction or consecration.^[3]

Kumararama, Samarlakota

An inscription at Pithapuram credits Chalukya Bhima I (888–918 CE),^[4] the Eastern Chalukyan king, with building the Bhimeswara temple at Chalukya Bhimavaram near Samalkot. It describes him as the son of Vikramaditya, who ruled for 30 years after winning 360 battles. While some scholars suggest Chalukya Bhima II (934–945 CE) may have built it, most evidence supports Chalukya Bhima I as the founder.^[3]

Draksharama, Draksharamam

The Bhimeswara temple at Draksharama is traditionally attributed to Chalukya Bhima I, though this lacks epigraphical support. An inscription from the reign of Amma II (945–970 CE) mentions an official named Kuppanarya, who constructed a Siva shrine at Draksharama named Kuppesvara, though no temple by that name exists now. The earliest inscription at the Bhimesvara temple, dated 1081 CE, indicates its existence before this time. Another inscription from 982 CE mentions the temple, suggesting it was built in the early 10th century, possibly during Kuppanarya's time.^[5]

Amararama, Amaravathi

The Amareswara temple at Amaravathi can be dated based on epigraphical and historical evidence. Of the 35 inscriptions on its walls, the earliest is from 1129 CE. While its Dravidian architectural style resembles the 10th-century Bhimesvara temples at Samalkot and Draksharama, the absence of earlier inscriptions suggests the temple was built later. Scholars estimate that the temple likely originated in the 11th century. Over time, legends associated with the Bhimesvara temples may have linked them to the Amareswara temple.^[6]

Ksheerarama, Palakollu

The Ksheera Ramalingeswara temple at Palakollu is traditionally associated with Narēndra Mrugarāja (Vijayaditya), who, according to the Edarupalli copper plate grant, built the Siva temple after fighting 108 battles. The temple, part of the pācharama shrines, is a single-storey structure with a small linga, unlike the usual two-storey shrines. Of the forty-six inscriptions on the temple, the earliest dates to 1156 CE, with the latest recorded in 1640 CE. Based on the epigraphical evidence, the temple is believed to have been constructed in the 11th century CE.^[6]

Legend

As per regional tradition, a lingam was owned by the asura king Tarakasura. Due to his possession of the lingam, he was invincible in battle. In the war between the devas and the asuras under Tarakasura, Kartikeya and Tarakasura met in combat. Kartikeya used his weapon of shakti to kíll Tarakasura. By the power of this weapon, the body of Tarakasura was torn to pieces. But to the astonishment of Kartikeya, all the pieces reunited to give rise to a revived Tarakasura. He repeatedly broke the asura's body into pieces, and yet the pieces re-unified repeatedly.^[7]

Even as Kartikeya grew baffled, Vishnu appeared before him and informed him that Tarakasura would be resurrected as long as the lingam he wore on his form was intact, and hence the lingam would have to be shattered for his victory. The deity also stated that after breaking, the pieces of the lingam would try to reunite. To prevent the lingam from reuniting, all the pieces would have to be established in the places where they would fall, by way of worshipping them and building temples over them.^[8]

Heeding the words of Vishnu, Kartikeya used his agneyastra (a celestial weapon of fire) to break the lingam that was worn by Tarakasura. The lingam broke into five pieces, and started to reintegrate to the chant of the sacred syllable Om. Surya, by the order of Vishnu, established the pieces where they fell and worshipped them by building temples over them. After the consecration of the temples, the pieces stopped their attempts to reunite and became famous as the Pancharama Kshetras.^[9] All the five lingams in these five places have scale-like marks on them, which are believed to have formed by the power of the agneyastra used by Kartikeya.

Temples

These places (or Aramas) are as follows:^[10]

Amararama (in Amaravathi): Amaravathi is in the Guntur district, on the banks of the Krishna River. The deity Amara Lingeswara is believed to have been worshipped by Indra here. The temple is old and in three circles with many temples within the compound. Bala Chamundeswari is the goddess venerated here. The Venu Gopala Swami temple is also located in the campus of the main temple.
Draksharama (in Draksharamam): This is near Ramachandrapuram. The temple is very big and has three circles as compounds. It is under the control of the Archeological department. Rama is regarded to have worshipped Shiva here, followed by Surya and Indra. Manikyamaba devi, one of 18 Shakti Pithas, is present here.
Somarama (in Bhimavaram): The Someswara Swami temple is in Gunupudi. The temple has a holy pond called the Chandra kundam in front of the temple. Chandra is believed to have absolved himself of his sins here by worshipping Shiva here. Hence, the name of the deity here is called Someswara. The lingam is believed to change its colour according to the lunar month (black at the time of amavasya, white at the time of purnima). The Annapurna Mata temple is located on the second floor.
Ksheerarama (in Palakollu): According to local legend, the deity Ksheera Rama Lingeswara offered the Sudarshana Chakra to Vishnu here. The sage received boons and milk from Shiva, hence the name kshira (milk). Parvati is the name of the goddess here.
Kumararama (in Samalkota): The Kumara Bhimeswara Swami temple is in Samalkota. It is about 20 km from Kakinada. It is a very old temple under the control of the Archeological department. Kartikeya is regarded to have established the lingam here, hence the name Kumararama. Bala Tripura Sundari is the goddess worshipped here.

Arama name	Shiva's name	Consort name	Installor's name	Location	District	State
Amararama	Amaralingēśvara Śwāmivāru	Bālā Chāmuṇḍikā Ammavāru	Indra	Amaravati	Palnadu district	Andhra Pradesh
Draksharama	Bhīmēśvara Śwāmivāru	Māṇikyāmba Ammavāru	Surya	Draksharama	Konaseema district	Andhra Pradesh
Somarama	Sōmēśvara Śwāmivāru	Śrī Rājarājēśvari Ammavāru	Chandra	Bhimavaram	West Godavari district	Andhra Pradesh
Ksheerarama	Kṣīra Rāmalingēśvara Śwāmivāru	Pārvati Ammavāru	Vishnu	Palakollu	West Godavari district	Andhra Pradesh
Kumararama	Kumāra Bhīmēśvara Śwāmivāru	Bālā Tripura Sundari Ammavāru	Kartikeya	Samalkota	Kakinada district	Andhra Pradesh