Śrīśaila, also called Śrīśailam and Śrīparvata, is a sacred mountain in Andhra Pradesh. It stands on the banks of the Kṛshṇā river in the Nallamala forest. It is the seat of Mallikārjuna Jyotirliṅga, the second of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas, and the Purāṇas call it the greatest tīrtha (pilgrimage place) of the south.

Bhagavān Śiva lives here with Pārvatī as Mallikārjuna, together with the Śakti Bhramarambā. Śrīśaila is also one of the eighteen Mahāśakti Pīṭhas. The Narasiṃha Purāṇa adds that Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa made this hill his lasting home.

Location

Śrīśailam lies in the Nallamala forest on the banks of the Kṛshṇā river, where the river cuts through the Eastern Ghats, in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. The Kṛshṇā surrounds the mountain on three sides, which makes it a natural fortress. The Śrīśailam Dam and its reservoir now fill the valley below the temple. The old temple complex stands on the plateau above.

Another description places Śrīśailam in the Nallamala Hills of the modern Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh. It is also written Srisailam.

Mallikārjuna and Bhramarambā

The presiding form of Bhagavān Śiva is Mallikārjuna. The name joins mallikā (jasmine) and Arjuna, a name of Bhagavān Śiva meaning the pure and brilliant one (in another account, bright, white and pure).

The Śakti here is Bhramarambā, the humming devī, the devī of bees. She is one of the eighteen Mahāśakti Pīṭhas. Śrīśaila is therefore one of the rarest holy places, because a Jyotirliṅga and a Mahāśakti Pīṭha are both present in it. Pilgrims receive the grace of Bhagavān Śiva as Jyotirliṅga and of Śakti as Pīṭha, the whole Śaiva and Śākta presence in one place.

Origin: Kumāra’s retreat

The Śiva Purāṇa gives the origin of Bhagavān Śiva’s presence here. The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā (Chapter 15) tells it after the contest between Gaṇeśa and Kumāra (Skanda). Gaṇeśa’s circumambulation of his parents was judged equal to circumambulating the universe. Kumāra felt slighted by the result. He left Kailāsa in sorrow for the mountain Krauñca, which is identified with the region of Śrīśaila. There he decided to stay as an ascetic.

Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī followed their son and appeared as a divine jyotis (light) at Śrīśaila. Bhagavān Śiva visits on every amāvāsyā (new moon) and Pārvatī on every pūrṇimā (full moon).

The Kumāra Khaṇḍa account

The Kumāra Khaṇḍa of the Rudra Saṃhitā (Chapter 20) tells the origin of Bhagavān Śiva’s presence at Śrīparvata, the Krauñca mountain. After the marriage of Gaṇeśa, Kārttikeya withdrew from Kailāsa to Krauñca Mountain in vairāgya (detachment). Bhagavān Śiva visited on every Amāvāsyā and Pārvatī on every Pūrṇimā. Pārvatī asked Bhagavān Śiva to stay near their son always. He then appeared here as the Mallikārjuna Jyotirliṅga, one of the twelve self-manifest, shining liṅgas of Bhagavān Śiva on earth.

Śrīparvata in the Agni Purāṇa

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapters 109 and 113) calls the hill Śrīparvata and tells how it became holy.

The blessing of Śrī Hari

In an age past, Gaurī (Pārvatī) took the form of Śrī-devī and performed great tapas (austerity) on this mountain. Pleased with her austerity, Śrī Hari appeared before her. He gave her two gifts. The first was the vara (boon) of ādyātma-jñāna, the highest knowledge of the Self. The second was his word that the mountain would be known in all the worlds as Śrīparvata. He also declared that the whole region of four thousand yojanas in all four directions around the mountain would be supremely holy.

The eternal presence of Bhagavān Śiva

The Agni Purāṇa says that Bhagavān Śiva lives on Śrīparvata for ever, always at play (krīḍā) with Pārvatī. The divine couple stand for the union of consciousness and śakti, and their presence makes the hill a living form of divine grace.

Hiraṇyakaśipu is recorded to have performed his great tapas at this place and to have gained extraordinary power from it. The munis also performed tapas on Śrīparvata and gained siddhi (spiritual power). The place gives the fruits of tapas quickly and fully.

Imperishable fruit

The Agni Purāṇa declares that all dāna (gift), tapas, japa (chanting) and śrāddha (rite for the ancestors) done at Śrīparvata give akshaya-phala, imperishable fruit. The kshetra gives all that is wished to those who come with faith (śraddhā). Those who die on Śrīparvata reach Śiva-loka directly. So Śrīparvata is a tīrtha for worldly welfare, for spiritual attainment and for liberation.

Among the tīrthas of the south

The Agni Purāṇa’s general chapter on pilgrimage (Chapter 109) lists Śrīparvata with the great tīrthas of the southern country. These are Kolācala, Sahagiri, Malaya-giri, Godāvarī, Tuṅgabhadrā, Narmadā, Kāverī, Kāpī, Payoshṭī and Daṇḍakāraṇya. All of them are called uttama-tīrthas, the best of tīrthas, that give liberation. Śrīparvata ranks as one of the foremost tīrthas of Bhārata-varsha.

Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa at Śrīśaila

The forty-fourth chapter of the Narasiṃha Purāṇa tells how Narasiṃha came out of the pillar and destroyed Hiraṇyakaśipu. It ends with a statement about Śrīśaila.

After Hiraṇyakaśipu was destroyed, the devas, led by Brahmā, showered flowers on the victorious Narasiṃha. Brahmā then crowned Prahlāda as ruler of the rākshasas. All the people became devoted to dharma. Bhagavān Śrī Hari set Indra and all the devas in their proper places in svarga (heaven).

The chapter then says that Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa chose Śrīśailam as his permanent dwelling. The Telugu words are given here as the text has them:

Nārāyaṇuḍu prajala kshēmaṃkōrakaṃ Śrī Śaila śikharaṃ mīdunḍi bhaktulanu rakshistū, bhaktulu kānivārini naśiṃpacēstunnāḍu.

This means: “For the welfare of all beings, Nārāyaṇa, from atop the peak of Śrī Śaila, protects the devotees and destroys those who are not his devotees.”

The Narasiṃha Purāṇa speaks of Śrīśailam as the lasting home of Bhagavān Narasiṃha after the avatāra, and not only as a place he once visited. The task of the avatāra, which was to destroy Hiraṇyakaśipu and protect Prahlāda, was done. Bhagavān Narasiṃha’s protection at Śrīśaila goes on without a break. Three points stand out in the statement:

Sthiti, a permanent dwelling. He is present there now and always.
Two works. From Śrīśaila he protects devotees (bhakta-rakshaṇa) and destroys those who are not devotees. Both the protecting and the terrible forms of Narasiṃha are at work.
Welfare for all. The stated purpose is prajala kshēmam, the welfare of all beings, and not only of Vaishṇavas.

The merit of hearing the narrative

The chapter closes with the phalaśruti (the fruit promised for hearing) of the Narasiṃha narratives:

All who read or hear this account have their pāpas (sins) wholly destroyed.
Women and men who hear it are freed from the sorrow of widowhood and from bad company.
Even people of wicked character and bad conduct, people with ill-born children, people who have done adharma, and people too attached to the pleasures of the senses become pure on hearing it.
Bhagavān Śrī Hari, worshipped by crowds of people and by the lord of the devas, took the terrible form through his māyā. With his nails he destroyed Hiraṇyakaśipu, who tormented all beings.

Śiva and Narasiṃha are both worshipped at Śrīśailam today. The principal worship there is of Bhramarāmbā (Śakti) and Mallikārjuna (Śiva), one of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas.

Significance

Among the Jyotirliṅga sites, Śrīśaila is unusual. It did not begin with the tapas of a human devotee, nor with the rescue of someone from an asura. It began with the love of Bhagavān Śiva for his son. He came here following Kumāra, and no one had asked him to. The visits on amāvāsyā and pūrṇimā keep this love alive in the calendar of rites. Devotees who keep these tithis (lunar days) share in it.

Sources

Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 15
Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Kumāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20
Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 109 and 113
Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 44