palakollu temple

                  Palakollu is located in West Godavari district of Andhrapradesh in India. Thhis place is famous for Lord Shiva (Eshwara) temple which is considered as one of the Pancharama temples. The temple here is called Sri Kshira Rama Lingeshwara swamy. Excellent transportation facility available to reach Palakollu. Very good service available for trains and buses from other places of India. One more Pancharama Kshetra called Bhimavaram is located just 20Kms away from Palakollu. One more major city of West Godavari called Narsapur is 25Kms away from here. Very frequent buses run towards Narsapur from all other parts of Andhra Pradesh (by APSRTC). The temple is situated very nearer to Bus station and no additional transportation is needed. The temple is located beside a very narrow road.
             
                The main attraction of Palakol is the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, Sri Ksheera Rama Lingeswara which is considered as one of the Pancharama Kshetras. The height of the temple is 120fts and constructed during Chalukya period by Chalukya Bheema. The construction took place during 9th century. The lingam, which is white in colour, is believed as the tallest. There are 72 pillars made of black stone.
 Inside the Garbhalaya (Garbha Gruha), Gokarneshwara and Vigneshwara (Ganapati) alayas are situated at the left with Kshiralingam located at the center. To the right, Subramanya Swamy and Janardhana Swamy alayas with Nandi at the centre are situated. Gostani river flows through the town Palakollu and there is a sangam place near Narsapur with river Godavari. From here the river enters the sea at Antarvedi. Once upon a time this place was a thick forest with natural greenary.

   The Shiva Lingam (Moola Virat) can be seen from all the four sides through windows in the Garbha Gruharam. Additionally, Sun God, Kashi Vishweshwara, Goddess parvathi, Goddess Lakshmi, Nagareshwara Lingam, Dundi Vigneshwara, Veera Bhadra, Sapta Matruka, Kanaka Durga, Brahma, Saraswathi, Kumara Swamy, Kartikeya, Mahishasura Mardhini, Naga sarpa, Nataraja, Dattatreya, Kala Bhairava, Nageshwara, Shaneeshwara, Shankara, Radha Krishna can also be seen in the temple. There is a belief that the Shiva lingam is installed by Lord Vishnu. People say that, staying one day in Kshirarama is equivalent to staying one year in Varanasi.
The Prakara is designed by Sri Velupathi during 10th century. The art of temple construction resembles those constructed during Chalukya period. Gopuram is constructed by Sri Alladu Reddy during 14th Century. During 17th century, Kalyana mantapam (choultry) and Ashtha Bhuja Lakshmi Narayanaswamy alaya have been constructed.