Set amid dense forest on the Nallamala hills above the Krishna river, Srisailam is uniquely sacred as both a Jyotirlinga of Shiva — worshipped as Mallikarjuna — and a Shakti Peetha of the Goddess as Bhramaramba Devi. Its legend, told in the Koti Rudra Samhita of the Shiva Purana, recounts how Shiva and Parvati followed their son Kartikeya to the Sri Parvata hills after he left Kailash aggrieved over Ganesha's marriage; the divine couple made this mountain their eternal abode to remain near him. The name unites Mallika, the jasmine, with Arjuna, an epithet of the fair Lord.
The Skanda Purana devotes an entire section, the Srisaila Khanda, to the glory of this kshetra, likening it to Kailasa itself and promising that whoever beholds its peak is freed from rebirth. Adi Shankaracharya is traditionally held to have composed his Shivananda Lahari here, and the temple proclaims that worship of the linga at Srisailam bestows the grace of Bhramaramba together with Mallikarjuna.
Because it joins Shiva and Shakti in a single kshetra, devotees hold that one pilgrimage here carries the merit of worshipping both — making Srisailam among the most revered destinations in the South.
Mallikarjuna at Srisailam is counted twice over — a Jyotirlinga of Shiva and a Shakti Peetha of the Goddess on the same hill. Very few sites are both.
Source: Verified dataset (circuit membership)
