This place was earlier called as "Ksheera Puri" based on this temple. Later called as "Pala Kolanu", which all tries to convey the meaning of milk pond. This town and the Ksheera Rama Lingeswara Swami temple are located in the area subtended by the Shiva temples at Srisailam,Draksharamam & Kaleswaram also called "Trilinga Desam" (meaning "the region bounded by three lingas") which in following centuries of existence became Telugu desam,the language spoken by the people around these locations was named as Telugu, hence it is believed by some historians that the word "Telugu" was born from this region.
The main attraction of Palakol is the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, Sri Ksheera Rama Lingeswara which is considered as one of the Pancharama Kshetras. The height of the temple is 120fts and constructed during Chalukya period by Chalukya Bheema. The construction took place during 9th century.
The lingam, which is white in colour, is believed as the tallest. There are 72 pillars made of black stone. Inside the Garbhalaya (Garbha Gruha), Gokarneshwara and Vigneshwara (Ganapati) alayas are situated at the left with Kshiralingam located at the center. To the right, Subramanya Swamy and Janardhana Swamy alayas with Nandi at the centre are situated. Gostani river flows through the town Palakollu and there is a sangam place near Narsapur with river Godavari. From here the river enters the sea at Antarvedi. Once upon a time this place was a thick forest with natural greenary.
The Shiva Lingam (Moola Virat) can be seen from all the four sides through windows in the Garbha Gruharam. Additionally, Sun God, Kashi Vishweshwara, Goddess parvathi, Goddess Lakshmi, Nagareshwara Lingam, Dundi Vigneshwara, Veera Bhadra, Sapta Matruka, Kanaka Durga, Brahma, Saraswathi, Kumara Swamy, Kartikeya, Mahishasura Mardhini, Naga sarpa, Nataraja, Dattatreya, Kala Bhairava, Nageshwara, Shaneeshwara, Shankara, Radha Krishna can also be seen in the temple.
There is a belief that the Shiva lingam is installed by Lord Vishnu. People say that, staying one day in Kshirarama is equivalent to staying one year in Varanasi.
The Prakara is designed by Sri Velupathi during 10th century. The art of temple construction resembles those constructed during Chalukya period. Gopuram is constructed by Sri Alladu Reddy during 14th Century. During 17th century, Kalyana mantapam (choultry) and Ashtha Bhuja Lakshmi Narayanaswamy alaya have been constructed.
The temple timings are, 5.30am to 11.30am and 4.00pm to 8.30pm. choultry facility is available for tourists to stay in the temple premesis.
Excellent transportation facility available to reach Palakollu. Very good service available for trains and buses. Bhimavaram is located just 20Kms away, Narsapur is 10 Kms away from here. Very frequent buses run towards Narsapur. The temple is situated very nearer to Bus station. Palakollu is 20Kms from Bay of Bengal.
How to reach Palakollu
inside temple view Palakillu is on the National Highway 214 located at interior Andhra Pradesh. The highway starts from kathipudi (on National Highway 5) near Annavaram and ends at National Highway 9 between Vuyyuru and Machilipatnam. Very frequent buses available to Palakollu from all parts of Andhra Pradesh moving towards Narsapur or Bhimavaram.People travelling by road from Kolkata and Orissa side, have to reach Visakhapatnam and proceed in NH5 upto Ravulapalem. After Ravulapalem, take left turn where the boards points towards Narsapur. Palakollu is just 45minutes journey from this place via Siddhantam and Martair (Marteru). The distance between Ravulapalem and Vizag is 230Kms and 70Kms from Rajahmundry.
There is an Alternate way to reach Palakollu from Visakhapatnam. Proceed upto Kathipudi on NH5 and take left turn. Reach kakinada in this route and proceed towards Rajole via yanam and Amalapuram. From Rajole make your journey towards Palakollu. From Kakinada, one can reach Palakollu via Ramachandrapuram and Ravulapalem also. There are only two bridges to cross River Godavari one at Yanam and the other near Ravulapalem.
People travelling by bus from Hyderabad, Vijayawada and other parts of the country can travel upto Tanuku on NH5 and take right diversion to reach palakollu.
Carvings on the wall Not all the trains reach Palakollu. Trains running from Kolkata side take left diversion at Nidadavole to travel towards Palakollu via Bhimavaram (junction). Some trains proceed towards Vijayawada from here via Kaikalur. After Palakollu, trains reach the last station Narsapur. Confirm before booking the tickets for stops at this station. Tourists get down at Bhimavaram and take private vehicle or travel by bus to reach Palakollu. The total time of journey from Visakhapatnam to Palakol is 7 hours by bus. Private bus transportation exists between Narsapur and Bheemavaram via Palacole.
These five pancharama kshetras are:
Amararama - Amaravati
Draksharama - Draksharamam
Bheemarama - Samalkot
Ksheerarama - Paalakollu
Kumararama - Kotipalli or Somarama - Bhimavaram
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