An idol of Rudra was unveiled at Srisailam yesterday.  The 15 feet long Rudra idol made of a single stone that was brought from Mahabalipuram.  

Abhishekam was performed to the idol in the traditional way as prescribed in the scriptures.  The idol overlooking River Krishna is believed to do good to the River to flow with full waters so that the lands in the area will be fertile to yield good crops.  It is also believed that the Srisailam Dam will be protected by Lord Shiva.  

The idol was made and placed by the Srisailam temple authorities at the North East side of the Temple overlooking the River as suggested by some spiritual scholars.   The former Trustee of the temple A. Adi Narayana Reddy contributed Rs.25 Lakhs for the program.  

In fact the way of performing pooja to Shiva is entirely different from that of Vishnu.  The style of Shiva pooja is more concerned with the simple rituals and more concentration to go in to devotion to dwell in Atma Linga.  On the other hand, Vishnu pooja is a showy thing with decorations on the idol and surroundings.  That is the reason why Shiva temples have Shiva Linga and Vishnu temples have idols of the deities.  

But as part of the program of the temples to spend the available temple funds in addition to the facilities for the devotees visiting the temple city, they allocate some funds for the attractions so that the visitors can spend their time there with a relaxed mood.  After waiting in the queues for a long time for the Darshan of the deity, they need something for sightseeing and relaxing with their eyes and mind occupied with new things there.  Long Statues are always attractive and hold the sight of the tourists.  

Now one more place is added for the sightseeing at Srisailam for the benefit of the visitors.

AW-SriJa