Draksharama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple

ద్రాక్షారామం భీమేశ్వర స్వామి ఆలయం

Shiva · Bhimeswara Swamy · with Manikyamba

Linga

Draksharamam, Draksharamam, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district, Andhra Pradesh · Shaiva tradition

It is one of the five Pancharama Kshetras, the Shiva temples of coastal Andhra whose lingas tradition derives from a single linga broken into five.

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Walking and access
The upper level of the sanctum is reached by two flights of stairs.
Getting there
Air: Rajahmundry Airport

Not yet confirmed: visiting hours, dress code, phone rules, entry for visitors of other faiths. 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

3 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 Amaravati sthala purana (as summarised by M. Krishna Kumari) and Telugu popular tradition (as retold in the press)

The linga in the throat of Tarakasura

Tarakasura is an asura ruler and a devotee of Shiva. He carries a Shiva linga in his throat, and while he holds it he cannot be killed.

Indra and the devas go to war with him. Kumaraswamy — Kartikeya, the son of Shiva — attacks Tarakasura and cuts him down, but the torn pieces of the asura's body keep joining together again. As long as the linga is whole, the fight cannot be finished.

The accounts differ on who supplies the remedy. In the Amaravati sthala purana, as summarised by the historian M. Krishna Kumari, Shiva himself tells the devas that the linga must be broken and that breaking it will bring about Tarakasura's death. In the version retold in Telugu popular tradition, it is Vishnu who explains it, and he adds a warning: the pieces will try to reunite, so each one must be fixed to the ground where it lands.

Kumaraswamy breaks the linga in Tarakasura's throat into five pieces. The popular retelling says he uses the agneyastra, the weapon of fire. The five pieces fall at five different places, and Tarakasura dies.

In the popular retelling it is Surya, the sun, who secures the pieces, fastening them down and raising temples over them. The scaly marks on the five lingas are explained in that tradition as the scars of the fire-weapon. The five places are the Pancharamas: Amararama, Draksharama, Somarama, Ksheerarama and Kumararama.

At Draksharama, the popular retelling holds that Surya installed the piece himself, and the god is worshipped as Bhimeswara Swamy. The same retelling says the linga is tall enough that one part of it stands in the lower level of the shrine, and records a local legend that the temple's outer wall was never completed. The Amaravati sthala purana, for its part, names Draksharama among the four places where the lesser pieces fell — the biggest piece, in that account, belonging to Amaravati.

Told differently elsewhere. This account does not agree with “The Tripuras' linga, cut in five”, given on this page too. We tell each as its own tradition tells it, and do not choose between them.

Where this account comes from

  • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 28–30 archive.org
  • Press: Swarajya, "Trilinga Desa: The Telugu States' Tryst With The Divine" (Ratnakar Sadasyula), 24 February 2017 swarajyamag.com · seen 2026-10-09
Told in: The Bhimeswara Puranamu of Srinatha (Telugu, 14th–15th c., rendered from the Sanskrit Bhimakhanda), fourth ashvasa — as summarised by M. Krishna Kumari and by the East Godavari district administration

The Tripuras' linga, cut in five

Shiva destroys the asuras of the Tripuras with the Pashupata weapon after their boons turn them against the devas. The great stone linga they worshipped survives, and Shiva cuts it into five pieces, which Indra, Soma, Rama, Kumara and the god of Draksharama's own shrine receive at five places. This is the account of Srinatha's Telugu Bhimeswara Puranamu, the sthala purana of Draksharama. The same ashvasa explains the Saptagodavari at Draksharama.

Read this account

Vishnu, taking the form of Mohini, shares out the nectar of immortality and favours the devas over the asuras. The asuras, led by the lords of the Tripuras — the three cities — are left out. On the advice of the sage Narada they turn to penance, and Shiva grants them boons.

Strengthened by those boons, the Tripura asuras oppress the devas, who go to Shiva for help. Shiva burns the asuras and their kingdoms with the Pashupata weapon, and from that act he takes the name Tripurantaka, the destroyer of the Tripuras.

One thing survives the fire: a huge stone linga that the Tripuras had worshipped as their tutelary deity. Shiva cuts it into five pieces, and the five are set up at five places.

This is the account given in the fourth ashvasa of the Bhimeswara Puranamu, the Telugu sthala purana of Draksharama written by the poet Srinatha, who lived at the Reddi court of Rajahmundry and rendered the work from the Sanskrit Bhimakhanda. In it, Indra sets up one piece at Dharanikota on the bank of the Krishna, where it becomes Amareswara of Amararama. Soma sets up another on the bank of the Godavari at the village of Gunupudi. Rama sets up the third at Balakota, where it becomes Ramalingeswara of Ksheerarama. Kumara sets up the fourth at Bhimavaram, the capital of the Chalukyas. The remaining piece is set up at Draksharama itself.

For Draksharama this is the home account: the Bhimeswara Puranamu is the temple's own sthala purana, and the same ashvasa goes on to explain the creation of the Saptagodavari, the sacred water of Draksharama. The popular retelling of the temple's tank describes it as holding the waters of the Sapta Godavari.

Told differently elsewhere. This account does not agree with “The linga in the throat of Tarakasura”, given on this page too. We tell each as its own tradition tells it, and do not choose between them.

Where this account comes from

  • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 17–18 archive.org
  • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Press: Swarajya, "Trilinga Desa: The Telugu States' Tryst With The Divine" (Ratnakar Sadasyula), 24 February 2017 swarajyamag.com · seen 2026-10-09
Told in: The Daksha episode as given by the East Godavari district administration (which attributes it to the Skanda Purana) and by M. Krishna Kumari (from the Shiva Purana)

Daksha's sacrifice and the abode of Daksha

Draksharama's name is read as the abode, or the garden, of Daksha Prajapati, Sati's father. Daksha holds a sacrifice and leaves Shiva out. Sati goes uninvited, is humiliated and gives up her life; Virabhadra, born of Shiva's sweat, kills Daksha. Shiva then settles at Draksharama with Uma. The episode is given as the reason orthodox priests do not perform yajnas here, and it ties the place to the Shakti Peetha tradition of the goddess Manikyamba.

Read this account

Draksharama, in its own tradition, is the place of Daksha Prajapati. The district administration reads the name as Daksha's abode; the historian M. Krishna Kumari, working from the Shiva Purana, reads it as Daksha's garden — his arama.

Daksha is Sati's father, and so Shiva's father-in-law. He holds a great sacrifice and does not invite Shiva. Sati goes to it anyway, uninvited. At her father's sacrifice she is humiliated, and she gives up her life there.

Shiva's answer comes in two forms in the accounts. In Krishna Kumari's summary of the Shiva Purana, Virabhadra is born from Shiva's sweat and kills Daksha. In the district administration's telling, Shiva's grief takes the form of the Pralaya Tandava, the dance of dissolution, and Vishnu's discus cuts Sati's body into eighteen parts. The places where they fall become Shakti Peethas, and the goddess Manikyamba of Draksharama is counted among them.

After the destruction of the sacrifice, Shiva settles at Draksharama with Uma.

The episode explains a practice that sets this temple apart. Because Draksharama was the site of the sacrifice that ended in Sati's death, orthodox Brahmins avoid performing yajnas here; the popular retelling in the press says plainly that no yagna takes place at the temple. It also explains why the complex holds two centres of worship of equal standing: Bhimeswara, and Manikyamba, whose shrine is part of the Shakti Peetha tradition and is described on its own page.

The district administration states that the story is detailed in the Skanda Purana; Krishna Kumari gives it from the Shiva Purana. Neither has yet been traced to a specific chapter.

Where this account comes from

  • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Lord Bhimeswara Swami Temple, Draksharama" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, p. 17 archive.org
  • Press: Swarajya, "Trilinga Desa: The Telugu States' Tryst With The Divine" (Ratnakar Sadasyula), 24 February 2017 swarajyamag.com · seen 2026-10-09

In one minute

Why Draksharama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple matters

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

  1. It is one of the five Pancharama Kshetras, the Shiva temples of coastal Andhra whose lingas tradition derives from a single linga broken into five.

    2 sources for: It is one of the five Pancharama Kshetras, the Shiva temples of coastal Andhra w
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Lord Bhimeswara Swami Temple, Draksharama" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 17–18 archive.org

  2. The god Bhimeswara and the goddess Manikyamba are worshipped side by side in one complex, and Manikyamba's shrine is counted among the Shakti Peethas.

    Source for: The god Bhimeswara and the goddess Manikyamba are worshipped side by side in one
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Lord Bhimeswara Swami Temple, Draksharama" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  3. The temple has its own Telugu sthala purana, Srinatha's Bhimeswara Puranamu, rendered from the Sanskrit Bhimakhanda.

    Source for: The temple has its own Telugu sthala purana, Srinatha's Bhimeswara Puranamu, ren
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 17–19 archive.org

  4. Its walls carry a large body of medieval inscriptions — the district administration calls the temple a paradise for the epigraphist — and it is a centrally protected monument.

    2 sources for: Its walls carry a large body of medieval inscriptions — the district administrat
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Lord Bhimeswara Swami Temple, Draksharama" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Archaeological Survey of India: Archaeological Survey of India, Alphabetical List of Monuments — Andhra Pradesh, no. 41: Bhimeswara temple, Draksharama, East Godavari asi.nic.in · seen 2026-10-09

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Dravida

Eastern Chalukya construction. APSRTC's page attributes the temple to the Vengi king Bhima and notes clear Chalukyan features in the mukha mandapa sculpture; the East Godavari administration's page on the Samalkot Bhimeswara temple describes that temple's vimana as a two-storeyed vimana of the Dravida order with regional variations and says it resembles the Draksharama temple. The builder attribution itself is disputed — see the timeline.

  • Sanctum

    The two-storeyed sanctum

    The Bhimeswara linga rises through a two-storeyed shrine; two flights of stairs lead to the upper level, where the top of the linga is worshipped.

    Bhimeswara linga height: 10 ft
    • Government: Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, famous places, "Draksharamam" apsrtc.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  • Gateway tower

    Four gateways in the outer wall

    The outer prakara is pierced by four entrances, each with a gopuram; the western one is five-tiered. On a pillar of the western gopura mandapa, look for the portrait of the Reddi ruler Anavema Reddi.

    Where to stand: Outside the western entrance, then inside its mandapa.

  • Sculpture

    Chalukyan sculpture and pillar reliefs

    The mukha mandapa carvings show Chalukyan features. Pillar reliefs carry the Kiratarjuniya, Kannappa and Mrigavyadha stories; look also for Sharabheshvara, Lingodbhava, a sixteen-armed dancing Ganesha, Nataraja and Virabhadra.

  • Detail

    Miniature temple

    A miniature temple stands in the south-western corner of the complex.

    Where to stand: South-western corner of the enclosure.

  • Inscription

    Inscribed walls

    Inscriptions cover the temple walls; the earliest dated record found by Krishna Kumari, of AD 1081, is on a detached slab kept in the temple store-house.

  • Sacred water

    Saptagodavari

    The Bhimeswara Puranamu explains the creation of the Saptagodavari at Draksharama; the press retelling describes the tank as holding the waters of the Sapta Godavari.

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

The upper level of the sanctum is reached by two flights of stairs.

Getting there

  • By road: Kakinada · about 28 kmDistance as given by the East Godavari district administration.
  • By road: Rajahmundry (Rajamahendravaram) · about 50 kmDistance as given by the East Godavari and Konaseema district administrations.
  • By road: Amalapuram · about 25 kmDistance as given by the East Godavari district administration.
  • By air: Rajahmundry AirportNearest airport from general knowledge; not from an official page.

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

PIN 533262 (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

  • Sarannavaratri

    Sep–Oct · Ashvayuja, Shukla paksha, Padyami onwards

    The autumn Navaratri, listed by the district administration as running from Ashvayuja Shuddha Padyami.

  • Karthika Mondays and Jwalathoranam

    Oct–Nov · Kartika

    Festivals on the Mondays of Karthika masam, with the Jwalathoranam, the arch of fire.

  • Swamivari Kalyanam

    Feb · Magha, Shukla paksha, Ekadashi (Bhishma Ekadashi)

    The wedding festival of Bhimeswara, held on Bhishma Ekadashi in Magha masam.

  • Maha Shivaratri

    Feb–Mar · Magha

    Maha Shivaratri in Magha masam.

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. A piece of the five-fold linga is set up at Draksharama

    In the Bhimeswara Puranamu the last of the five pieces of the Tripuras' linga is set up at Draksharama; in the popular Tarakasura account Surya installs it. The accounts do not say in which yuga this happened.

    2 sources for: A piece of the five-fold linga is set up at Draksharama
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 17–18 archive.org
    • Press: Swarajya, "Trilinga Desa: The Telugu States' Tryst With The Divine" (Ratnakar Sadasyula), 24 February 2017 swarajyamag.com · seen 2026-10-09

In the historical record

  1. c. 892–922

    Attributed to the Eastern Chalukya king Bhima

    APSRTC's page says the temple was built by the Eastern Chalukya king Bhima of Vengi in troubled times (9th–10th centuries), when his kingdom was under attack from the Rashtrakutas. The years given are the regnal dates of Chalukya Bhima I as listed by the East Godavari administration.

    Disagrees with: An inscription of Amma II records a Shiva shrine at Draksharama

    3 sources for: Attributed to the Eastern Chalukya king Bhima
    • Government: Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, famous places, "Draksharamam" apsrtc.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Press: Swarajya, "Trilinga Desa: The Telugu States' Tryst With The Divine" (Ratnakar Sadasyula), 24 February 2017 swarajyamag.com · seen 2026-10-09

  2. c. 945–970

    An inscription of Amma II records a Shiva shrine at Draksharama

    Krishna Kumari finds no clear proof for the Chalukya Bhima attribution at Draksharama. An inscription of Amma II (AD 945–970) records the official Kuppanarya building a Shiva shrine called Kuppeswara at Draksharama, and she suggests it may be the Bhimeswara temple.

    Disagrees with: Attributed to the Eastern Chalukya king Bhima

    Source for: An inscription of Amma II records a Shiva shrine at Draksharama
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 26–27 archive.org

  3. 982

    Named in a Kanchipuram inscription of Jata Choda Bhima

    A Conjeevaram inscription of Jata Choda Bhima dated Saka 904 refers to the Draksharama temple. Its reading is disputed between B. V. Krishna Rao and K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer; on Krishna Rao's reading Krishna Kumari dates the temple to at least the first half of the 10th century.

    Source for: Named in a Kanchipuram inscription of Jata Choda Bhima
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 26–27 archive.org

  4. c. 1050

    Nannaya's Telugu Mahabharata places Arjuna at Draksharama

    The Adiparva of Nannaya's Andhra Mahabharata, an 11th-century work, says Arjuna visited Draksharama and worshipped Shiva there.

    2 sources for: Nannaya's Telugu Mahabharata places Arjuna at Draksharama
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 17–19 archive.org
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  5. 1081

    Earliest dated inscription

    A detached slab in the temple store-house, dated AD 1081, records a gift for a lamp by Padmavati, wife of a minister of Rajaraja of Kalinga. Krishna Kumari assigns it to the reign of Kulottunga I.

    Source for: Earliest dated inscription
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 26–27 archive.org

  6. c. 1378–1454

    Srinatha writes the Bhimeswara Puranamu

    Srinatha, poet at the Reddi court of Rajahmundry, renders the Sanskrit Bhimakhanda into Telugu as the Bhimeswara Puranamu, the temple's sthala purana. The years are the span of his life as given by Krishna Kumari.

    Source for: Srinatha writes the Bhimeswara Puranamu
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 17–19 archive.org

  7. Endowments Department administration and ASI protection

    The temple is run by an Executive Officer under the Andhra Pradesh Endowments Department, and it is on the ASI's list of centrally protected monuments in Andhra Pradesh.

    2 sources for: Endowments Department administration and ASI protection
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Lord Bhimeswara Swami Temple, Draksharama" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Archaeological Survey of India: Archaeological Survey of India, Alphabetical List of Monuments — Andhra Pradesh, no. 41: Bhimeswara temple, Draksharama, East Godavari asi.nic.in · seen 2026-10-09

Around here

Worth the detour

Sources

Where this page comes from

  • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Lord Bhimeswara Swami Temple, Draksharama" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Government: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema District Administration, "Tourism" konaseema.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Government: Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, famous places, "Draksharamam" apsrtc.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 1–31 archive.org
  • Press: Swarajya, "Trilinga Desa: The Telugu States' Tryst With The Divine" (Ratnakar Sadasyula), 24 February 2017 swarajyamag.com · seen 2026-10-09
  • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Archaeological Survey of India: Archaeological Survey of India, Alphabetical List of Monuments — Andhra Pradesh, no. 41: Bhimeswara temple, Draksharama, East Godavari asi.nic.in · seen 2026-10-09

Cite this page

Aalaya Katha Foundation, “Draksharama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple”, Aalaya Katha, version last reviewed 2026-10-09. https://www.aalayakatha.com/temple/draksharama (accessed ).

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