Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple

కుమారారామం కుమార భీమేశ్వర స్వామి ఆలయం

Shiva · Kumara Bhimeswara Swamy · with Bala Tripura Sundari

Linga

Samalkot, Kakinada district, Andhra Pradesh · Shaiva tradition

It is one of the five Pancharama Kshetras, the one whose linga tradition says was consecrated by Kumaraswamy himself, which gives the temple its name.

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Getting there
Train: Samalkot Junction (SLO)Air: Rajahmundry Airport (Rajamahendravaram)

Not yet confirmed: visiting 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 Amaravati sthala purana (as summarised by M. Krishna Kumari) and Telugu popular tradition (as retold in the press)

Kumaraswamy's own piece of the linga

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 Samalkot, the linga is held to have been consecrated by Kumaraswamy himself, and that is why the place is Kumararama and the god Kumara Bhimeswara. The linga here is described by the Utsav portal as a white crystal linga spanning two floors; the district administration and the press describe it as limestone, tall enough to pass through the roof of the shrine's ground floor into the upper storey.

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
  • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.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
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. In this account Kumara sets up his piece at Chalukya Bhimavaram, the old name of Samalkot.

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.

The East Godavari administration's page on the Samalkot temple gives this Tripura account as the origin of Kumararama. The Puranamu's "Bhimavaram, the capital of the Chalukyas", where Kumara sets up his piece, is Chalukya Bhimavaram — the old name of Samalkot recorded in the temple's own inscriptions — not the modern town of Bhimavaram in West Godavari, which holds Somarama.

Told differently elsewhere. This account does not agree with “Kumaraswamy's own piece of the linga”, 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
  • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

In one minute

Why Kumararama 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 one whose linga tradition says was consecrated by Kumaraswamy himself, which gives the temple its name.

    2 sources for: It is one of the five Pancharama Kshetras, the one whose linga tradition says wa
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Incredible India, "Kumararama Bheemeshwar" incredibleindia.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  2. It is attributed to the Eastern Chalukya king Chalukya Bhima I at the end of the 9th century, and its linga is named Chalukya Bhimeswara after him.

    2 sources for: It is attributed to the Eastern Chalukya king Chalukya Bhima I at the end of the
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Incredible India, "Kumararama Bheemeshwar" incredibleindia.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  3. The tall limestone linga passes through the roof of the ground floor into the second storey, where its upper part is worshipped.

    2 sources for: The tall limestone linga passes through the roof of the ground floor into the se
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 24–26 archive.org

  4. It is a centrally protected monument of national importance.

    2 sources for: It is a centrally protected monument of national importance.
    • Archaeological Survey of India: Archaeological Survey of India, Alphabetical List of Monuments — Andhra Pradesh, no. 44: Bhimeswara temple, Samalkot (Bhimavaram), East Godavari asi.nic.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Dravida

Eastern Chalukya construction. The East Godavari administration describes the main shrine as a dvitala (two-storeyed) vimana of the Dravida order with regional variations, renovated and covered in thick plaster, and says the temple resembles the Bhimeswara temple at Draksharama.

  • Sanctum

    The two-storey linga

    The free-standing, rectangular, two-storeyed main shrine at the centre. Its limestone linga rises through the ground-floor roof; on the upper floor its top, the Rudrabhaga, is worshipped.

  • Enclosure

    Two-storeyed pillared cloister

    Two prakara walls of dressed sandstone. Along the inner side of the inner enclosure runs a two-storeyed pillared mandapa, divided horizontally by a cornice.

  • Gateway tower

    Four gateways

    The outer wall has a gopura on each of its four sides, each with an ardha-mandapa; the mukhamandapa at the eastern entrance dates from AD 1394.

    Where to stand: At the eastern entrance.

  • Detail

    Miniature model of the temple

    A miniature model in the courtyard reproduces the temple's details; the district administration suggests it may have been the builders' model.

  • Inscription

    Kappa stambham

    The monolithic pillar on the western side. Its inscription records that thieves pulled down its Nandi, and that Lakshmi, wife of Narasimudu, had a new one made from stone brought from Kotilingalu at Rajahmundry.

    Where to stand: Western side of the temple.

  • Tower over the sanctum

    The vimana

    Flat pattas, geese, kutas, salas, simhalalatas, lotuses and the kalasa on the plastered two-storeyed vimana.

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 train: Samalkot Junction (SLO) · about 2 kmOn the Chennai–Howrah line; distance per the Utsav portal.
  • By road: Kakinada · about 12 kmThe district page gives 12 km; the Utsav portal gives 15 km.
  • By air: Rajahmundry Airport (Rajamahendravaram) · about 48 kmDistance per the Utsav portal.
  • By road: APSRTC Pancharama circular tourPer the Utsav portal, an APSRTC circular tour of the five Pancharamas, about 700 km, leaves at 20:00 every Sunday and returns at 20:00 the next day.

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

PIN 533440 (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

  • Maha ShivaratriMaha Shivaratri Mahotsavamulu

    Feb–Mar · Magha

    The temple's Maha Shivaratri festival, listed by the district administration and on the Ministry of Tourism's Utsav portal.

  • Sarannavaratri (Dussehra)

    Sep–Oct · Ashvayuja, Shukla paksha · 10 days

    Ten days of Dussehra celebrations.

  • Karthika Masam

    Oct–Nov · Kartika

    The month of Karthika, observed as a festival period at the temple.

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. Kumaraswamy consecrates the linga

    Tradition holds that Kumaraswamy consecrated the linga here; in the Bhimeswara Puranamu, Kumara sets up the fourth piece of the Tripuras' linga at Chalukya Bhimavaram. Neither account says in which yuga this happened.

    2 sources for: Kumaraswamy consecrates the linga
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, p. 18 archive.org

In the historical record

  1. c. 892–922

    Built by Chalukya Bhima I

    The East Godavari administration states that Chalukya Bhima I built the temple toward the end of the 9th century and that the linga was named Chalukya Bhimeswara after him; a Pithapuram inscription records Chalukya Bhima building a shrine at Chalukya Bhimavaram, and Krishna Kumari identifies him with Bhima I (c. 897–922). An inscription credits the king with 360 battles and a reign of thirty years.

    Disagrees with: Alternatively attributed to Chalukya Bhima II

    3 sources for: Built by Chalukya Bhima I
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 24–26 archive.org
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  2. c. 934–945

    Alternatively attributed to Chalukya Bhima II

    The Utsav portal notes that scholars disagree whether Bhima I or Bhima II (934–945) founded the temple, with the Pithapuram inscriptions supporting Bhima I.

    Disagrees with: Built by Chalukya Bhima I

    Source for: Alternatively attributed to Chalukya Bhima II
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  3. 1147–1494

    Gift inscriptions

    Epigraphs dated between AD 1147 and 1494 record gifts to the temple. Of twenty-five stone records counted by Krishna Kumari, seventeen name the god as Chalukya Bhimeswara or a close form.

    2 sources for: Gift inscriptions
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Scholarship: M. Krishna Kumari, Pancharamas in Medieval Andhradesa, Agam Kala Prakashan, 1989, pp. 24–26 archive.org

  4. 1394

    Eastern mukhamandapa built

    A mukhamandapa was built at the eastern entrance in AD 1394.

    2 sources for: Eastern mukhamandapa built
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  5. 1422

    Srimukhamandapam and niluvu mandapam added

    A Srimukhamandapam, with a niluvu mandapam on top of it, was added in AD 1422.

    2 sources for: Srimukhamandapam and niluvu mandapam added
    • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

  6. Endowments administration and ASI protection

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

    2 sources for: Endowments administration and ASI protection
    • 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. 44: Bhimeswara temple, Samalkot (Bhimavaram), East Godavari asi.nic.in · seen 2026-10-09

Around here

Worth the detour

  • Temple

    Draksharama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple

    Another Pancharama; the district administration says the Samalkot temple resembles it.

  • Museum

    Kakinada State Archaeology Museum

    Holds a sculpted panel of Chalukya Bhima I with his chief queen, linked by Krishna Kumari to this temple's founder.

Also in Kakinada district

Sources

Where this page comes from

  • Government: East Godavari District Administration, "Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari Temple, Samalkot" eastgodavari.ap.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Utsav portal, "Maha Shivaratri Mahostavamulu — Sree Chalukya Kumararama Bheemeswara Swami Temple, Samarlakota" utsav.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
  • Government: Ministry of Tourism, Incredible India, "Kumararama Bheemeshwar" incredibleindia.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
  • Archaeological Survey of India: Archaeological Survey of India, Alphabetical List of Monuments — Andhra Pradesh, no. 44: Bhimeswara temple, Samalkot (Bhimavaram), East Godavari asi.nic.in · seen 2026-10-09

Cite this page

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

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