Neelakanteswara Temple is a highly revered shrine, located on a beautiful hillock, in Nizamabad of Andhra Pradesh. The presiding deity here is Sri Neelakanteswara, another name of Lord Shiva.Most noteworthy feature of the temple is that Sun’s rays fall on the Shivling on Rathasaptami day (January-February). During this time, the Neelakanteswara Festival is celebrated for two days.
Shrine’s History
When Lord Shiva drank the Halahala poison churned up from the Samudra Manthan to eliminate its harmful effect, afraid by this act, Goddess Parvathi blocked his neck. She thus managed to stop the poison, in his neck itself and stop it from spreading all over the universe supposed to be in Shivas stomach. The poison was so strong that changed the colour of his neck to blue. Moreover, dynasty ,in this temple, the worship of Lord Shiva is in the form of the Linga. Commonly, Shiva means favourableness and Linga means a symbol or an emblem. The Shivalinga is considered a symbol of the good God of the universe who is all- auspicious?. Shiva also means one in whom the full creation sleeps ?. Linga means a place where created objects get dissolved during the disintegration of the created universe. According to the Hinduism, the same god that creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, the Shivalinga represents symbolically God Himself. The fort of the temple was constructed by the kings of Rasdynasty, during the 10th century. There are a 40 feet monolithic victory pillar built during the Rashtrakuta region. This fort was occupied by Allauddin Khilji in 1311 AD and subsequently went into the hands of the Bahmani Sulthanate .The present fort reflects the Asaf Jahi style of architecture. This temple was constructed by Satavahana king, Satakarni ? II, about 500 years ago. The structure resembles the north Indian style of architecture. The other deities worshipped are God Sathyanarayana and Goddess Annapoorna.
Shrine’s Map Location and How to Go There
By Road
Nizamabad district has good road connectivity. Almost all the towns and villages in the district have well-laid asphalt roads and are connected to district headquarters. Nizamabad has 2 National Highways passing through it, one being NH 44 which connects Kanyakumari and Varanasi and the other is NH16 which starts from Nizamabad and passes through Karimnagar to Jagadalpur in the state of Chhattisgarh.The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) runs around 700 buses from district headquarters on a daily basis.
By Rail
Nizamabad Railway Station is the major train station in the district which is located on Secunderabad-Manmad section of Hyderabad Division of the South Central Railway Zone (SCR). Not all the towns in the district have a rail network coverage but Nizamabad being one of the important stations on the line carters the need of the people. Jankampet Junction which lies on the north of Nizamabad city connects to Bodhan town
By Air
The nearest airport is Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Shamshabad Hyderabad.
Shrine Timings
06:00 to 12:00 (All days of the week(Morning)) 17:00 to 20:00 (All days of the week(Evening))
Events Celebrated at This Shrine
Shivaratri