Bhramaramba Temple, Srisailam

భ్రమరాంబ అమ్మవారి ఆలయం

Bhramaramba · with Mallikarjuna (Shiva)

Srisailam, Nandyal district, Andhra Pradesh · Shakta tradition

Her shrine shares the Srisailam complex with Mallikarjuna, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, so the site is counted in both circuits.

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Getting there
Train: Markapur Road railway stationAir: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad

Not yet confirmed: darshan hours, dress code, phone rules, entry for visitors of other faiths, walking distance. Ask at the temple office or enquiry counter — and if you know, tell us. hello@aalayakatha.com

Full visiting details

Sthala purana

The story of this place

2 accounts are recorded. Each is told separately, in the words of its own tradition — they are never merged.

Family note: this story includes violence or death.
Told in: The Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, and the Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha stotram

Sati's body and the seats of the Goddess

Daksha receives a garland from the sage Durvasa, who had it from the Goddess herself. In the Devi Bhagavata's telling, the way Daksha treats that gift turns him against Shiva and against his own daughter Sati, Shiva's wife. At Daksha's sacrifice the enmity comes to a head, and Sati burns her body in a fire she raises by yoga, keeping her devotion to her husband intact.

Shiva's anger threatens the three worlds. Virabhadra rises from it and Daksha's sacrifice is destroyed. Shiva lifts Sati's body and wanders with it in grief, and Vishnu cuts the body to pieces with his arrows. Wherever a part falls, Shiva remains there in some form, and the place becomes a seat — a pitha — of the Goddess. Vyasa, narrating, then names the seats one after another, each with the goddess who presides there.

Srisailam is one of the few seats of the eighteen that the chapter's own list does include: 'at Shri Shaila, Madhavi'. The name there is not Bhramaramba. The Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha stotram — traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara, though the attribution has not been confirmed — gives the name now used, Bhramarambika at Srishaila, and places her sixth. The Lalitopakhyana's geographical list of seats also includes Shrishaila.

Neither list says which part of Sati fell here. We have not yet found a written source for the tradition that it was her neck.

Where this account comes from

  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, Chapter 30, vv. 26–102 (Swami Vijñanananda tr., 1921) wisdomlib.org
  • Hymn: Aṣṭādaśa Śakti Pīṭha Stotram, vv. 1–5a, beginning Laṅkāyāṃ Śāṅkarī devī. Traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara; the attribution is unverified. No critical edition or verse numbering was found. hindupedia.com · seen 2026-10-09
Told in: The Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 10, Chapter 13

Bhramari and the asura Aruna

The asura Aruna won from Brahma a boon that no man, woman, two-legged or four-legged being, and no weapon could kill him, and used it to drive out the gods. His power depended on the Gayatri mantra; when Brihaspati tricked him into giving it up, the Goddess appeared surrounded by black bees. She sent swarms of bees from her body against the asuras, and they died. The name Bhramari — and Bhramaramba — comes from the bees.

Read this account

Aruna, an asura who hates the gods, lives in the netherworld. He goes to the banks of the Ganga in the Himalaya and begins a penance to Brahma, whom he regards as the protector of his kind. He holds his breath and repeats the Gayatri mantra, and over forty thousand years he gives up food in stages — dry leaves, then water, then air, then nothing. The heat of his penance threatens the world.

Brahma comes, with Gayatri and the Vedas, and finds him wasted to his life-breath. Aruna asks first not to die; Brahma refuses, since even gods die. Aruna then asks not to be killed in war, by any weapon, by any man or woman, by any two-legged or four-legged creature, or by any combination of these, and for an army able to defeat the gods. Brahma grants it.

Aruna raises his army. The gods flee to Brahma, then Vishnu, then Shiva on Kailasa, while Aruna takes the powers of the Sun, the Moon, Yama and Agni. A voice tells the gods to worship the Goddess, and tells them something more: Aruna will die if he ever abandons the Gayatri. Indra sends Brihaspati to him in the guise of a sage. Brihaspati provokes him, and Aruna, swollen with pride, gives the mantra up. The gods, meanwhile, hold a sacrifice to the Goddess.

She appears, bright as ten million suns. Black bees cling to her garlands and hum her seed-mantra around her; because of the bees she is called Bhramari. When the gods have praised her she sends out swarms from her own body. They cover earth and sky, tear into the asuras, and the asura leaders die within an instant. None of the bees is a man, a woman, or a beast with two or four legs, and no weapon is used.

The chapter does not name Srisailam. The identification of this Bhramari with the goddess worshipped at Srisailam as Bhramaramba — 'Mother Bhramari' — is the shrine's own tradition, and the name is the story's mark on the temple.

Where this account comes from

  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 10, Chapter 13, vv. 33–127 (Swami Vijñanananda tr., 1921) wisdomlib.org

In one minute

Why Bhramaramba Temple, Srisailam matters

Each line says who it comes from and how settled it is. What the labels mean

  1. The Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha stotram names Bhramarambika at Srisailam sixth among its eighteen seats of the Goddess.

    Source for: The Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha stotram names Bhramarambika at Srisailam sixth among
    • Hymn: Aṣṭādaśa Śakti Pīṭha Stotram, vv. 1–5a, beginning Laṅkāyāṃ Śāṅkarī devī. Traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara; the attribution is unverified. No critical edition or verse numbering was found. hindupedia.com · seen 2026-10-09

  2. Her shrine shares the Srisailam complex with Mallikarjuna, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, so the site is counted in both circuits.

    2 sources for: Her shrine shares the Srisailam complex with Mallikarjuna, one of the twelve Jyo
    • Hymn: Dvādaśa Jyotirliṅgāni, v.1 — the enumerative shloka beginning Saurāṣṭre Somanāthaṃ ca, which continues Śrīśaile Mallikārjunam
    • Hymn: Aṣṭādaśa Śakti Pīṭha Stotram, vv. 1–5a, beginning Laṅkāyāṃ Śāṅkarī devī. Traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara; the attribution is unverified. No critical edition or verse numbering was found. hindupedia.com · seen 2026-10-09

  3. The Devi Bhagavata Purana tells how the Goddess took the form of Bhramari, surrounded by black bees, to destroy the asura Aruna.

    Source for: The Devi Bhagavata Purana tells how the Goddess took the form of Bhramari, surro
    • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 10, Chapter 13, vv. 33–127 (Swami Vijñanananda tr., 1921) wisdomlib.org

  4. The Devi Bhagavata's own list of the Goddess's seats includes Srishaila, but names the goddess there Madhavi.

    Source for: The Devi Bhagavata's own list of the Goddess's seats includes Srishaila, but nam
    • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, Chapter 30, vv. 26–102 (Swami Vijñanananda tr., 1921) wisdomlib.org

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Architectural style not yet identified

No architectural study of the Bhramaramba shrine has been found yet, so its fabric, dating and highlights are not yet described.

We have not yet sourced a description of the building — what to look for and where to stand. Until we can cite one, this stays empty rather than guessed.

Yatra

Plan your visit

Darshan times

We could not confirm the opening times from the temple’s own notice, so we are not printing any. Please check with the temple office or the devasthanam before you travel.

Before you go

  • No dress code or entry rules have been confirmed for this temple yet. Traditional, modest clothing is always the safe choice; ask at the entrance.

Walking, steps and access

We have not yet confirmed how much walking or climbing is involved, or whether there is wheelchair access. If you are travelling with elders, ask at the temple office or the devasthanam enquiry counter before you set out.

Getting there

  • By air: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad
  • By train: Markapur Road railway station
  • By road: HyderabadBy ghat road through the Nallamala forest.

Routes are general guidance and not yet checked against an official source.

PIN 518101 (not yet checked with India Post)

The order of darshan

No published source gives the order in which to visit the shrines here, so we have not invented one. Follow the queue and the temple staff.

Festivals

The temple’s festival calendar has not been sourced yet.

Itihasa

Through time

Two registers, kept apart on purpose: what the Puranas tell, and what the historical record shows. They answer different questions and we do not force them to agree.

In the Puranas and tradition

  1. The Goddess appears as Bhramari and destroys Aruna

    The Devi Bhagavata's account behind the name Bhramaramba. The chapter does not name Srisailam or a yuga.

    Source for: The Goddess appears as Bhramari and destroys Aruna
    • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 10, Chapter 13, vv. 33–127 (Swami Vijñanananda tr., 1921) wisdomlib.org

  2. Srishaila listed among the seats of the Goddess

    In Vyasa's list of the Goddess's seats after Sati's death, Srishaila appears with the goddess Madhavi.

    Source for: Srishaila listed among the seats of the Goddess
    • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, Chapter 30, vv. 26–102 (Swami Vijñanananda tr., 1921) wisdomlib.org

In the historical record

No dated history of this temple has been sourced yet — no inscription, survey or study we can cite.

Around here

Worth the detour

  • Temple

    Mallikarjuna Temple

    The Jyotirlinga shrine in the same complex; the pair are worshipped together.

  • Temple

    Jogulamba Temple, Alampur

    The fifth seat in the stotram's order; Alampur is called the western gateway to Srisailam.

Also in Nandyal district

Sources

Where this page comes from

  • Hymn: Aṣṭādaśa Śakti Pīṭha Stotram, vv. 1–5a, beginning Laṅkāyāṃ Śāṅkarī devī. Traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara; the attribution is unverified. No critical edition or verse numbering was found. hindupedia.com · seen 2026-10-09
  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, Chapter 30, vv. 26–102 (Swami Vijñanananda tr., 1921) wisdomlib.org
  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 10, Chapter 13, vv. 33–127 (Swami Vijñanananda tr., 1921) wisdomlib.org
  • Hymn: Dvādaśa Jyotirliṅgāni, v.1 — the enumerative shloka beginning Saurāṣṭre Somanāthaṃ ca, which continues Śrīśaile Mallikārjunam

Cite this page

Aalaya Katha Foundation, “Bhramaramba Temple, Srisailam”, Aalaya Katha, version last reviewed 2026-10-09. https://www.aalayakatha.com/temple/bhramaramba-srisailam (accessed ).

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How we label sources and confidence