Sri Someswara Janardhana Swamy Temple – Bhimavaram

 

Sri Someswara Janardhana Swamy Temple is located in Bhimavaram town in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh State.

Here Lord Shiva is Worshipped as Someswara Swamy. Sri Rajarajeswari Devi is the consort of Lord Shiva.

It is one of the Pancharama Temples

Here Shivalingam is 5 feet height and faces east direction.

The lingam is smaller when compared to other Pancharama temples.

The unique feature of this temple is that the color of the Shivaling will change depending on the lunar aspect. Shivaling will be white during Pournami (full moon nights), and it will be a shade of black during Amavasya days (dark nights).

The temple is a storied structure with a 7-tier raja gopuram. The Goddess Annapurna is located on the top of Shiva Lingam seen on the temple's first floor and this kind of construction is unique and not seen anywhere in the country. This resembles the fact that Lord Shiva holds the Goddess Ganga on his head.

There is a pond known as Somagundam situated opposite the temple. There are 5 Nandi statues in the temple compound. Inside the temple, Lord Anjaneya Swamy, God Kumara Swamy, Navagraha, Sun God, and Lord Ganesha can also be seen.

According to the Legends in Skandha Purana and Bramhanda Purana, during Ksheera Sagara Madhanam Demon Tarakasura theft out Amrutha Atma Linga emerged from Ksheera Sagara Mathanam. By wearing the Atma Linga around his neck he becomes unbeatable and gets Superpowers. Then Kumara Swamy the son of Mahadeva and Parvathi Devi who is the commander-in-chief (Sainyaadhipathi) for all Devata came face to face to fight with Tarakasura. Kumara Swamy broke Tarakasura into pieces, and even after he broke into pieces it was reuniting again. Then Sri Mahavishnu advised Kumara Swamy, to break the shiva linga in his neck into pieces, only then Tarakasura can be killed. That even after breaking Shiva Linga into pieces, the pieces will reunite again. To prevent this reunite, all those broken pieces should be fixed at the place where they fall, by worshipping and building a temple on top of it. As advised By Sri Mahavishnu Kumara Swamy used his Agni weapon to break the Atma Linga worn by Tarakasura and killed him. The Atma Linga was broken into five pieces, the broken pieces tried to reunite by making the chant 'OM'. To prevent this Indra, Surya Deva, Chandra, Sri Mahavishnu, and Kumara Swamy worshiped the Lingas at the place where they had fallen.

Timings

6.00 am to 11.00 am

4.00 pm to 8.00 pm

How to reach the Temple

1 km from Bhimavaram Bus Station

120 km from Vijayawada

Nearby Temples

Palakollu, Sri Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple – 22 km

Juttiga, Sri Umavasuki Ravisomeswara Swamy Temple – 26 km

Achanta, Sri Rameswara Swamy Temple – 41 km.