Our Yatra to Srisailam
Srisailam is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, of our Ancient Bharath, and it said that it is here that Acharya Shankara composed the famous ‘Shivanandalahari’.
This temple is venerated by the Devotees of Shiva, more importantly by the Veerasaiva Sect of Karnataka.
The Great Woman-Saint of Karnataka, Sage Akka-Maha-Devi, performed penance in a cave in Srisailam and ultimately merged with the Lord in this place.
Her songs have the Mudra as ‘Chenna-Mallikarjuna…’.
Having been blessed to have the Darshan of eleven Jyotir-Lingas, Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga at Srisailam, was the one pending for quite a long of time.
We initially tried to travel by public transport, but we found that not one of them were suitable for our short journey.
Hence, we decided to travel by our own car.
Before I narrate my Yatra, I would like to add a few bits of information.
Now About the Journey :
Now, for our travel-Log :
Day-1
Srisailam has a lot more things to see other than the temple.
Wishing you all a Blissful Yatra to Srisailam.
Srisailam is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, of our Ancient Bharath, and it said that it is here that Acharya Shankara composed the famous ‘Shivanandalahari’.
This temple is venerated by the Devotees of Shiva, more importantly by the Veerasaiva Sect of Karnataka.
The Great Woman-Saint of Karnataka, Sage Akka-Maha-Devi, performed penance in a cave in Srisailam and ultimately merged with the Lord in this place.
Her songs have the Mudra as ‘Chenna-Mallikarjuna…’.
Having been blessed to have the Darshan of eleven Jyotir-Lingas, Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga at Srisailam, was the one pending for quite a long of time.
We initially tried to travel by public transport, but we found that not one of them were suitable for our short journey.
Hence, we decided to travel by our own car.
Before I narrate my Yatra, I would like to add a few bits of information.
- Srisailam is situated on the Nallamala Hills of Eastern Ghats amid dense forest, also housing the Srisailam Wild-Life Sanctuary.
- You must travel on Ghat Road for about 40 Kms.
- The Ghat roads are closed by 9 pm and opened only by 6 am on the next day.
- The temple is open from 5 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 8.30 pm.
- But for people who booked ‘Seegra-Darshan’ tickets online, the entry is allowed till 9 pm.
- As we went immediately after Maha Shivaratri, Sparsha Darshan and Abhiseka by Devotees were suspended.
- You can book your accommodation, Sevas etc., online, thorough their website : https://www.srisailadevasthanam.org/en-in/home.
- Go to ‘Darshanam’ icon and book your slot.
- The temple is usually crowded with Devotees, mostly from Karnataka throughout the year.
- But the crowd is more during weekends, Festivals and Mondays.
- The best place to stay in Srisailam is the Karivena Brahmana Satram, just a few meters from the Temple premises.
- Their Website is https://karivenabrahmanasatram.com/
- You can mail to them in advance and book your rooms.
- We stayed in an AC Double room and the tariff was Rs 1500/- per day.
- The rooms are very neat and quite big.
- They provide free lunch and dinner for all their customers.
- We must collect the tokens for the same and proceed to the dining area.
- Males are requested to remove their shirts/banians while eating.
- Food is provided to the residents first and then to all other people, irrespective of their caste) till the token lasts.
Now About the Journey :
- The distance from Chennai to Srisailam is around 500 Kms and you can easily reach within nine hours with two/three pit-stops.
- I travelled via the Kolkata National Highway upto Ongole and then took the left turn to Markapur.
- Good Vegetarian Food is the biggest problem on the way.
- Almost 90% of the Highway Inns provide Non-Veg food only.
- So, carry your breakfast, snacks, lunch, and water with you.
- Food on the way, and at Srisailam, is VERY Spicy.
- Mobile phones do not get proper signal on the hill. Wi-Fi does not work in many points on the hill and hence usage of BHIM/GPay could be very difficult.
- So, carry sufficient cash with you.
- Though it is a medium-sized temple, you have to walk a lot to reach the entrance and the queue system keeps winding.
- Even if there is minimal crowd, you will have to walk atleast one to one and half KMs to have Darshan.
- There are special darshan tickets (Rs 300/- and Rs 150/-) available.
- Sparsha Darshan (touching the idol) is allowed during limited hours on payment of Rs 500/- per person.
- For Senior Citizen, on producing their Aadhar cards, they are allowed to join the ‘Seegra-Darshan’ (Rs 150/-) queue without any payment.
- Dress Code is strictly implemented.
- The temple does not distribute any free Prasadam. But you get the Laddu Prasadam, in a separate location outside.
- This aspect is not organized properly. We have to pay and get a token in one counter and then go to adjacent counter for getting the Prasadam.
- Most of the time, only one counter is opened and as a result there is always a huge line to get the Prasadam.
- One more point is that we must pay Rs 5/- separately, for the plastic cover to collect the Laddu. As this aspect is not mentioned anywhere, many people struggle to get the Rs 5/- coin, after collecting the Laddu-Token. And this delays the movement of queue even further.
- The entire queue complex is well maintained. Volunteers provide drinking water and there are toilets in the vicinity throughout.
Now, for our travel-Log :
Day-1
- We started from Chennai at 5.30 am on 02/03/2025 (Sunday).
- After a brief halt for Breakfast at Amaravathy Highway Restaurant near Gudur, we proceeded straight to Srisailam, without any further breaks
- We reached Srisailam by 2.30 pm and checked into the Satram.
- After east and bath, we proceeded to the temple by 4.30 pm for our evening Darshan.
- We took the Rs 300/- ticket (per head) for ‘Athi-Seegra Darshanam’.
- The temple opens for devotees only by 5.15 pm, and we were made to sit in cubicles (just like Tirumala) for the next 40-45 mins.
- Then the queue starts moving through the barricaded queue-line and after walking for 20-25 mins we reach the Sanctum.
- Lord Mallikarjuna was shining in all splendor with golden ornaments.
- As we had purchased the special tickets, we were allowed to have darshan from the nearest point.
- After this Blissful Darshan we proceeded to the adjacent Shrine of Devi Brahmaramba’.
- The Queue moved slowly, without much push and pull.
- After 20 minutes we had an excellent of the Divine Mother.
- After having Darshan of all the other ‘Parivaara-Devaathas’, we reached the Prasadam counter.
- Infact, we spent almost an hour to get the Prasadam as there was just one counter for the hundreds that stood in the queue.
- Overall, we observed that temple was kept clean by the staff.
- Just like Tirupathi, there are volunteers managing the queue and most of them are very helpful.
- Can’t say the same about the temple staff, as they were the usual lackadaisical self.
- After a satisfying Darshan, we returned to our Satram.
- We had our dinner consisting of a spicy-Arisi-Uppuma, (Full-fledged meals is also served), at the Satram.
- After a tiring Day culminating in the Blessed Darshan of the Divine Couple, we slipped into our sleep. .
- We woke up at 4 am, and after completing our morning chores and bath, we proceeded towards the temple, by 5 am.
- The Satram Manager told us beforehand that we should take our Aadhar Card as Senior Citizen are allowed in the ‘Seegra-Darsanam’ queue without any payment.
- Accordingly, we took our Aadhar Cards and reached the queue by 5.15 am.
- After the checking, we were allowed to proceed.
- We proceeded along the usual winding queue-system, though there was absolutely no crowd.
- We had a wonderful morning Darshan of the Lord, in a serene atmosphere devoid of any crowd.
- Today we witnessed that all ornaments were removed and the Lord was getting ready for his morning Abishekam which is done at 7.30 am every day.
- The Jyotirlinga was shining in all its Spiritual Splendor.
- Slowly we moved towards the Shrine of the Divine Mother, Brahmaramba Devi and had our Darshan.
- After spending about an hour and half in the temple, we returned to our Satram.
- After a light breakfast (Idli is uniformly good in all hotels), we started back for home by 7.30 am.
- We visited the ‘Sakshi-Ganapathi’ temple which is two Km’s away from the Shiva temple on our way back.
- Tradition demand that we visit this temple, without fail, on our return..
- The return journey was uneventful, except that we could not find any ‘Vegetarian’ hotel on the way till we reached the borders of Tamilnadu.
- There was one near Nellore, Padmavathy Vilas, on the highway, but we just missed it.
- We reached our home by 5 pm.
Srisailam has a lot more things to see other than the temple.
- It is one of the few Tiger-Reserve-forests in the country.
- The forest authorities conduct ‘Safaris’ to view the animals in the wild.
- There is a huge dam and a reservoir.
- Paatala Ganga and the cave of Akka-Mahadevi are some other places to visit.
- The Chenchulakshmi Tribal Museum is another place worth visiting. We were told that the honey which we get here is pure and collected from the adjoining forest area.
- Food will be the only problem along the journey from Chennai to Srisailam and back.
- So carry your food, plenty of snacks and fruits.
- If you are okay with spicy food, then you have plenty of hotels in Srisailam also.
- If you are travelling by your own vehicle, fill up the tank before entering the Ghats.
- We found to our dismay that though there was one or two Petrol bunks on the hill, they were not good.
- While coming down there is no petrol station till, we reach Dornala, which is around 45 Kms away from the temple.
Wishing you all a Blissful Yatra to Srisailam.
