Sri Someshwara Temple: Srikakulam
- In Travel
- 01:22 PM, Jun 13, 2020
- Sudha Raju
Today I will share the beauty of a Lord Shiva temple located in Jalamuru Mandal of Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. It is the Sri Someshwara temple which was undergoing some restoration work when I went a year ago. Built in the 11th or 12th century CE by the Eastern Ganga dynasty kings, it has great sculptural beauty.
The entrance to the sanctum with beautifully carved doorway
Gajalakshmi with meditating Devas above her
The first level of the temple is intricately carved, while the vimana is a little simple in the carving.
Gangadhara, The name given to Lord Shiva for taking the force and bearing Ganga. Here he can be seen with his open jata to accept Ganga.
All four walls of the temple are fully carved, beautifully.
The four armed Lakulisa (Lord with the staff or club). He is considered to be the 28th and last avatar of Shiva, and revivalist of the Pashupata Sect. He is also known as the Yogic incarnation of Shiva. He had 4 disciples Kusika, Garbha, Mitra, and Kaurusya. You can see them carved beneath.
Here we can see Mahadev cajoling Parvati Maa. Notice the second person from the left in the first picture. I was fascinated by how skeletal he looked and the finesse of the sculptor. I thought there must be a story there too. Someone pointed out that he is Bhringi. Since I did not know the story of Sage Bhringi, searched the net and found a wiki page for Bhringi. It is an interesting story.
According to Hindu epics, Bhringi was an ancient sage (rishi), and a great devotee of Shiva. According to epics, all the rishis paid homage to both Shiva and Parvati, consort of Shiva, but Bhringi would not worship Parvati and dedicated himself solely to Shiva.
Bhringi one day, came to Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva, and expressed his desire to go around Shiva. As he was going around, Shiva 's consort Shakti said, “You cannot just go around him. You have to go around me too. We are two halves of the same truth.” Bhringi, however, was so focussed on Shiva that he had no desire to go around Shakti. Seeing this, Shakti sat on Shiva’s lap making it difficult for Bhringi to go around Shiva alone. Bhringi, determined to go around Shiva took the form of a Bhring (Black Bee) and tried to slip in between the two.
Amused by this, Shiva made Shakti one half of his body – the famous Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva. This was God whose one half is the Goddess. Bhringi was adamant. He would go around Shiva alone. So he took the form of a rat, some say a bee, and tried to gnaw his way between the two.
This annoyed the Goddess so much that she said, “May Bhringi lose all parts of the body that come from the mother.” In Tantra, the Indian school of alchemy, it is believed that the tough and rigid parts of the body such as nerves and bones come from the father while the soft and fluid parts of the body such as flesh and blood come from the mother. Instantly, Bhringi lost all flesh and blood and he became a bag of bones. He collapsed on the floor, unable to get up. Bhringi realized his folly. Shiva and Shakti make up the whole. They are not independent entities. One cannot exist without the other. Without either there is neither. He apologized.
Mahishasura Mardini or 10 armed Durga, slaying the asura. The battle scene carved below. In other alcoves we can see Ganesha and Karthikeya with their vahanas. Seeing the temple from afar, we can never imagine that it has such sculptural beauty.
Sri Someshwara temple is located 50 kms and takes an hour and a half to reach from Srikakulam city of Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. It is situated just before the famous Sri Mukhalingam temple.
This article is taken from my book ‘ANCIENT TEMPLES My Travelogue’.
Print version (Paperback) is available in India at www.notionpress.com
Kindle version India link – https://www.amazon.in/dp/B08799ZXJP/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_i_vzoNEb3314X0R
Loading...please wait
Comments