Temple in tizzy on shrinking Lingam

C R Gowri Shanker Hyderabad, Oct 12: Srisaila Devasthanam is seeking the opinion of the “Panchacharyas“ over the controversial plan to cover the “shrinking“ Shiva Lingam with a gold plate inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Brahmarambha Mallikarjunaswamy temple at Srisailam in Kurnool district. Temple authorities, who received divergent views over the plan, have decided to take a final call after receiving opinion of the present Panchacharyas. Sources said temple EO Chandrasekhar Azad told them that the Shiva Lingam, which was about 10 inches in height in 1794 had now been reduced to 4 inches due to daily cleansing with water and Abhisekham ritual using Panchamrutham comprising of milk, curd, ghee, sugar and honey. He said the plan to cover the Shiva Lingam with a gold plate was aimed to protect it from further shrinking for future generations since a similar Shiva Lingam in Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra had been reduced to zero over a period of time. Srisaila Shiva Lingam size of 10 inches has been recorded in the Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological series No 23 “The Temples of Srisailam” written by Dr M Rama Rao, a retired professor of History at Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati in the 1960s and also in the book titled “Srisailam, Its History and Cult written by Prof P V Parabhramha Sastry which was brought out by Srisaila Devasthanam Publication sometime back. Yet Jangamas and Veerashaivas have strongly opposed the temple authorities plan to provide gold cover stating it was against the Veerashaiva Agama Shastras and it would bring disaster if the original Shiva Lingam is tampered in any manner. Temple authorities now plan to write to five Panchacharayas---Srimad Rambhapuri Jagadguru Veera Someshwara Shivacharya Mahaswami Rambhapuri Peetham, Chikaballapur, Karnataka, Srimad Ujjini Jagadguru Sri Siddhalingam Rajadeshikunda Shivacharya Mahaswami, near Bellary, Karnataka, Srimad Kedar Jagdguru Bheema Shankara Sivacharaya, Kedar, Uttarakhand, Srimad Srisaila Jagdguru Dr Chenna Siddharama Panditaradhya Shivacharya Mahaswami and Srimad Kashi Jadguru Dr Chandrasekhar Shivacharya Mahaswami, Kasi, Uttar Pradesh to elicit their views over providing a gold cover. “We have agreed to the proposal made by the temple EO to elicit the opinion of Panchacharyas in this regard. It is the right thing. But there is no change in our stand against providing a gold cover which is against the tenets of Veerashaiva Agama Shastras. Shiva Lingam should be covered with vibhuti but not gold,” Mr R Visweshwaraiah, President, A P Jangama Samajam told Deccan Chronicle. He added,”EO had informed us that the Shiva Lingam size has been reduced to 4 inches from 10 inches three centuries ago.” In another twist to the controversy, Mr Jagadev Hiremath who heads the Rashtra Veerashaiva Dharma Prachara Sangam quoting a booklet brought out by Mysore based Datta Avadooth Peetham claimed that present Shiva Lingam was not the original one. He also opposed gold cover to Shiva Lingam. “We are told that the present Lingam is not the original one. Original lingam is located below the present one. Since it was difficult to perform pujas to the earlier one due to congested location, the new lingam was installed. We are dwelling into the details,” he said. ..................