PARASHURAMESHWAR TEMPLE PART 3 – THE "LINGAKRITI TEMPLE" - GUDIMALLAM

PARASHURAMESHWAR TEMPLE – ANDHRA PRADESH – CHITTOOR – GUDIMALAM – Part 3

SHIVA – THE "LINGAKRITI TEMPLE" OVER THE SHIVALINGAM

Gudimallam is a small village, in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh and about 20 KM’s from Tirupathi. The Village on the banks of river Swarnamukhi , with very fertile land with lush greenery, has become popular  and well-known, because it houses the Temple dedicated to SHIVA and known as ,  known as "THE PARASURAMESHWARA TEMPLE”. The existence of the LINGAM predates the current TEMPLE structure by at least 800 to 1000 years as the LINGAM dates to at least about 2300 years before the CE.   The estimates of the date of the temple vary considerably, but it is usually dated to "the later Chola and Vijayanagara periods", so possibly a thousand years later than the sculpture. The lingam must have been placed in the open, with the rectangular stone surround that still remains. The LINGAM in temple remains in worship. The Temple itself is maintained by Archaeological Survey of India since 1954.

 

It is the longest continuously worshipped Shiva temple in the world. "There are several inscriptions which date to the Pallava, Ganga Pallava, Bana and Chola periods on the walls of the shrine and on stone slabs in the temple courtyard. The earliest inscription belongs to the reign of Nandivarma Pallava (802 CE). Inscriptions on the temple walls in ancient Tamil mention the keen interest taken by the donors and their gifts to the Temple...The village is referred as VIPRAPEETA (Brahmana Agrahara).

 

 

Architecture

The GARBHAGRIHA, must have been built much later than the Lingam itself. It is built in a circular fashion with brick and lime mortar super structure up to the SHIKHARA or 1^st Tala (Floor). On top almost like a manifestation of the LINGAM itself or in a LINGAKRITI as the inside of the Vimana is hollow and resembles a cylindrical form. The Vimana is in the form of Gaja Prishtha or Elephants Back(Apsidal or in D shape), however the Garbhagriha though extended into the rectangular Antarala is in a full circular form. It is believed that the bana and the Peetha were under the tree. Successive rulers i.e., Pallavas, Cholas, Banas and Vijayanagara kings augmented the structures. The circular shaped sanctum could be the most ancient part of this temple since sanctum flooring is much lower than the floorings of antarala and mukhamandapam.  

The Garbhagriha is surrounded by external walls of granite substructure at the base and pillar level with the Images of Lord Ganesha, Vishnu and Brahma in the KOSHTHA or niches. The sanctum is facing east and is enclosed by an Ardhamandapam and the entrance to this is through the South facing Mukhamandapam.

The tall perimeter walls of the temple with an entrance through a West side gateway or MUKHADWARAM without a GOPURAM, leads into a compound, which consists of separate shrines for the Goddess Parvathi in the north western corner, Karthikeya and Surya.The excavations carried by ASI (former director of ASI Dr.I.K.Sarma) during 1973 has retrieved black and redware sherds (date) assignable to 2nd - 3rd century A.D. The potsherds and the large size bricks (42 x 21 x 6 cm) retrieved from the site made the scholar to assign the temple to Satavahana or Andhra dynasty period. ASI prefers to call it the earliest extant Shiva Lingam in India. As defined earlier the period of the Temple, varies from the period of the Lingam in existence by at least 1000 years.