Keesaragutta Sri Rama Lingeshwara Swamy Temple

The Keesaragutta temple or the Rama Lingeswara Swamy temple is a hindu temple dedicated to lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. It is located on a small hill called Keesaragutta in Keesara village. The temple receives a huge number of devotees at the time of Maha Shivaratri and during the Kartika masam.

On top of one of the rock-cut caves around the temple, an early Telugu inscrription read as 'Thalachuvanru' was found. Twelve idols of Jain Tirthankara were found near the temple steps at a depth of one foot which proves that Jainism existed along with Hinduism at Keesaragutta during 4-5th century.

Significance

According to legend, lord Rama installed the lingam here to relieve from the sin of killing a Brahmin, Ravana. He ordered lord Hanuman to bring a lingam from Varanasi. Lord Hanuman was late in arriving with lingam, so Shiva himself appeared before Rama and presented a lingam to him.

This is why ithe idol in the temple is Swayambhu Linga and is also called Ramalingeswara as Rama had installed the lingam. Lord Hanuman brought 101 lingams but felt upset for not having his lingam installed, he threw them all over the area. These lingams are still now worshipped along with the main idol of the temple.

How To Reach

Keesaragutta bus stop is the nearest stop to the temple at a distance of 5.2 KM. You can reach the temple from the bus stop by taking a local taxi or auto.