The Bhimesvara temple in Draksharama, a town in East Godavari district, is one of the five celebrated arama fanes of Andhra Pradesh. The Linga of the Lord, together with that of Mallikarjuna in Srisailam and that of Kalesvara in Kalesvaram gave Andhradesa its ancient name of Trilingdesa.
Temple History
The Bhimesvara temple was built by Chalukya Bhima, an eastern Chalukyan King of Vengi, a dynasty that was an offshoot of the Badami Chalukyas. He came to the throne in 892 under very difficult circumstances. In time, the Rashtrakutas, who had overthrown the Badami Chalukyas, invaded the Vengi country. They over ran it and captures Chalukya Bhima. Soon, Bhima escaped from captivity and crowned himself. However, the Rashtrakutas again invaded his country. In one of the battles, his son was killed. In all these wars, Bhima had to contend with his own disaffected kinsmen. Finally, he prevailed. According to an inscription, he fought no less than 360 battles.
The King, saddened by the loss of his brave son, turned to religion for solace. In his last years he built many temples. One of them if the Chalukya Bhimesvaram in Samalkottah. Another is the Bhimesvara of Draksharama. Incidentally, the other celebrated arama temples are the Amaresvara in Amaravathi, the Ramalingesvara in Palakol and the Somarama in Gunupudi.
Temple Architecture
The Bhimesvara temple stands in two prakaras. There are four entrances in the outer wall, each with a gopura. That on the west is the biggest. It is of five tiers. There are many shrines in the first enclosure. The entrance to the second is through the south. A pillared verandah, in two storeys, runs around the main shrine in the second enclosure. In a corner is the shrine of the Goddess, Manikyamba. In another corner there is a miniature of the main shrine.
The walls of the main shrine are in two sections. The lower encloses the ground floor, the upper in the first. Both sections contain sculptural decorations. Two flights of steps lead to the upper floor in two directions. There are many small shrines, mandapas and images in this part of the temple. As a whole, the temple contains many fine sculptures. The iconography of some of them is of significance and interest.