The Legend of Mallikarjun

Mallikarjun Temple is one of the sacred jyotirlingam of Lord Shiva situated at Srisailam in the dense forest of Nallamali . According to puraans, once Lord Kartikaya , the son of lord Shiva was annoyed with parents because he had to suffer defeat from the hands of his younger brother Lord Ganesha. Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati were sad about this event. Despite their best efforts Lord Kartikya went away from home. When the news about their son came , they went to met him at the Kraunch Mountain, where Lord Kartikaya was residing at that moment. On hearing the news of the arrival of his parents , Lord kartikaya decided to ran away from there. At last Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati assumed the form of jyotirlingam and decided to stay near to his son at the mountain of Srisailam. Still it is believe that on amavasya day Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati visits their son’s abode to met their son. The form of divine energies present here are known as “MallikaArjun”. The word “Mallika” is another name of goddess Parvati where as “Arjun” is another name of lord shiva. This sacred place is situated at the banks of river Krishna( Patal Ganga). This place is so sacred abode of lord Shiva that it is also known as “Dakshin-Kailash”. It is believe that this place provide salvation and liberation from the cycle of life and death. There is one more legend prevailing in the region. As per this, there was a princess named “Chandravati” who was very religious and doing tapasya in the forest. One day she observed that one cow among the cattle is not giving the milk. She followed that cow and noticed that the cow poured all her milk in a distant place over a shivlinga . On that night Lord Shiva appeared in her dream and told her that the lingam where cow poured her milk is the manifestation of Lord Shiva himself. After that darshan of Lord Shiva princess Chandravati built a temple as “Mallikarjun Swamy”

Jewel of Narmada

According to puraans(the classics), there are five most sacred rivers in India which are Ganga, Yamuna, kaveri, Godavri and Narmada. These rivers are powerful from spiritual point of view .Amongst all it is Narmada which is considered as most sacred .It is believe that one has to bath one day in Ganga or 7 days in Yamuna, but mere sight of Narmada is enough to clean the sins. Even river Ganaga, to cleanse herself comes to Narmada annually . In Kaliyugam there is life span of Ganga and Yamuna, but Narmada flows forever. This river is also known as “Shankri” which means the daughter of Lord Shiva. As per legend , each stone on the river bed of Narmada is symbolically Lord Shiva. It is often said about it that “Narmada ke har pathar upar Shankar”. They are called “Bana-lingam” which is considered very auspicious for worship. These Banalimgas carried different auspicious marks like lotus,conch,dhwaj etc. Each mark represent respective deity. They contain such divine powers that don’t loose its power under any circumstances. Its worship results in manifold positive effects. Mere thinking about this jewel of Narmada river can ward off many evils. Some classics even says that these sacred stones are already worshipped by Gods before reaching the river bed.