Sri Lalitha Someshwara Swamy Temple, Somasila.

A VIDEO OF THE TEMPLE:

On Maha Shivaratri day this year (11th March 2021), we were at Somasila, a popular pilgrimage place for the 7th century Sri Lalitha Someshwara Swamy temple and the Krishna River. The presiding deities of this Temple Complex consisting of 15 temples are of Sri Lalitha Devi and of Lord Shiva, including 12 Jyotirlinga temples.

A very silent and thinly populated Somasila village turned out to be an overcrowded place on this festival day with devotees visiting the temple in very large numbers on bikes, cars and buses from nearby and far off places. The whole place was reverberating with devotional songs, temple announcements and later in the evening a Hari Katha and Brahmam Gari Chartithra Natakam being enacted at the temple could be heard on the loudspeakers. We went to the temple for Darshan during noon and later in the evening but decided to return without Darshan because the temple was overcrowded, with not a single person wearing a mask or maintaining social distance.  

However the next day we were at the temple by 6:10 am and we had the temple for ourselves as you can see in the attached pictures and video.

Somasila is a beautiful village located on the left bank of the Krishna River in Nagarkurnool District of Telangana State, at a distance of 9 km from Kollapur town and 200 km from our house in Secunderabad. The drive to Somasila as you are approaching it is a wonderful one surrounded by hills, fields and patches of forest areas.

This 7th-century temple as I mentioned earlier is located on the banks of the Krishna River. But for the festival days, the temple is a very calm and quiet place. Its original location was a short distance away, at the erstwhile Somasila village which is now submerged in Krishna River Reservoir due to the construction of Srisailam Dam. It was built in the 7th century by the Chalukya rulers. It was shifted to the present place to protect it from the water of the Srisailam dam and reservoir. It was very carefully and skilfully shifted slab by slab to retain its original shape and glory. You can see the marking of numbers and symbols on the slabs of the temple, with the help of which the temple was so magnificently reconstructed, under the supervision of the State branch of the Archaeological Society of India and the Endowments Department.

Maha Shivaratri and Karthika Pournami are celebrated with much pomp and fervour here and attract a lot of pilgrims from all over the district and far off places. The Pushkaralu Snanam (holy dips/bath in the river) which takes place during the Krishna Pushkaram once in 12 years witnesses devotees thronging the area due to the belief that all sins are washed away when you take a dip during that period.

A little away in the river lies Sri Sangameswara Swamy temple, totally submerged in the water and surfacing once in a while in summers. Before our visit to Somasila, we came to know that it has partially surfaced and the temple Gopuram is visible. So on Maha Shivaratri day, we went to the boats taking devotees and tourists to this temple but due to the boats getting cramped with people not wearing masks we did not dare to go. However, the next day we made up our mind and tried to go to this temple but there was only one boat and he would not take us until there are twenty passengers and for just the two of us he was demanding the charges of all 20 passengers and it seemed dangerous for just the two of us. So we decided not to go. We are disappointed as we strongly desired to have a glimpse of the temple, after seeing a few videos of it at home. Seeing people in the videos going on boats without life jackets, we went prepared, taking with us our voluminous PFDs - Personal flotation devices. However, we went on a joy ride, on a bigger boat on the river.

We stayed at the nearby Haritha Resort Cottage on the banks of the river, overlooking the beautiful hills and the river.

This outing will always remain in our memory for the leisurely Darshan at this ancient and historical temple of Lalitha Devi and Lord Shiva, the beauty of Somasila and Krishna River, the long ride amidst fields, forests and hills and a very comfortable stay at the Haritha Resort. After a long time, we were happy to see a lot of birds, including the house sparrows and squirrels which were at one time a common sight at our house, and the night sky with countless stars.

And finally, on our way back as advised by some at Somasila, we were extremely happy to visit the ancient and popular 13th century, Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple at Singotam.