Sree Bheemeshwar sametha Sree Manikyamba Shakthi Peeth Temple (Drakshaaramam)

 temple, Shakti Peeth

TVT289 - sree mAnikyAmbA samEtha sree beemEswar temple, bheemEswaram or veemeechwaram now known as dhraksharamam or bheemavaram is 289th thEvAra vaippu temple.Temples which are mentioned in the thEvAra hymns(tamil) are called as "TVT-thEvAra vaippu(referred) temples". shaivam.org/siddhanta/spvtalam.htm
PRamT01 - One of the Pancha Rama Temples.
TChu SkPT008 b - Sree Manikya Devi temple, Draksharamam is Tandra Chudamani 8b Shakthi Peeth Temple. This is one of the two 8th Shakti Peeth Temples, where the left Cheek of sathi devi fell down. Another one is Sree Visweswari Akshara Sakthi peet temple, Kotilingala Revu, seethampet, Rajamundhiri.
Body Part - left Cheek. Bairav - VathsaNabar. Sakthi Peetam - Manikya peetam.
Lalitha sahasranamam - "badhmaraaga shilaadarsha paribhaavi khapolabhoo - பத்மராக ஷிலாதர்ஷ பரிபாவி கபோலபூ".
PT Wealth - Parikara, means curing temple, eradicates extreme poverty of bakths.
The Bhimeswara temple at Draksharama has two prakarams. The outer prakaram is pierced with four entrances each with a gopuram. The gopuram on the west is a five tiered one. The entrance to the inner prakaram is on the south. A pillared two storeyed verandah lines the inner prakaram The sculptural work in the mukha mandapam depicts clear Chalukyan features.
There are shrines to Lakshmi Narayana, Sankaranarayana, Ganapati and the Navagrahas.
The sanctum is two storeyed. The walls surrounding both levels are beautified with sculptural work. Two flights of stairs lead to the upper level of the sanctum. Bhimeswara is enshrined in the form of a ten feet high Shivalingam in the sanctum. Shiva's consort here is Manikyamba.
Mahashivaratri and Navaratri are some of the festivals celebrated here.
History: This temple was built by the Eastern Chalukyan King of Vengi - Bhima, during very troubled times (9th -10th centuries), when his kingdom was under attack by the Rashtrakootas. Inscriptions reveal that he had to fight as many as 360 battles. Chalukya Bhima also built the Chalukya Bhimeswaram temple at Samalkota nearby. The Draksharamam temple contains as many as 400 inscriptions going back to the 11th century. These inscriptions can be traced back to the Eastern and the Western Chalukyas as well as the Cholas and Kalinga rulers.
ohm namah sivaya....
---Srinivas