komuravelli mallanna

komuravelli mallanna is a famous god in northern telangana. The main devotees for mallanna god is from golla and kapu caste. Mallanna is the incarnation of Lord Shiva. The god appears in terrified form with big mustache. Mallanna often refered as beerappa, but both are different.

God Mallanna (Malia Reddy) who was fabled to have originally been a Yadava by caste. It is believed that Mallanna was born out of Mali Chemata (the next sweat) of Lord Siva, tholichemata(first sweat) turned as Beerappa. Malia Reddy was the son of Neelamma and Adi Reddy, the ruler of Kolhapur.

i got the following information from some of the websites..........

Komuravelli 'Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Devasthanam' is one of the prominent Siva temples in the northern Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. It is next to Rajarajeshwara Swamy Temple-Vemulawada and Mukteshwara Swamy Temple-Kaaleshwaram in popularity. The pilgrims often refer to the god as 'Komaravelli Mallana'. The temple is located in a cave on the 'Indrakeeladri' hillock. The uniqueness of this temple is that the lord shiva appears here in 'vigraha rupam'(statue) other than the usual 'linga rupam'. The statue is believed be 500 years old and is made up of 'putta mannu'(Soil used in building ant hills) and still in tact.

It is believed that the lord has married 'Gollakethamma' from Yadava community and 'Medalamma' from the Linga Balija community and settled here. So, both the goddesses are equally worshiped here. As a sentiment, the people from both Yadava and Balija communities head all the important rituals.

This temple is dedicated to Lord Sri Mallikarjuna swamy a fierce looking diety along with Kethamma and Medalamma on the both sides of the main diety. The temple is located in a cave on a small hillock at a distance of 110 Kms from warangal. Lakhs of piligrims congregate on the eve of Makara Sankranthi as Brahmotsavam starts. The clay moulded diety of Lord Mallikarjuna swamy is believed to be made 500 years ago.

The temple is renovated and mandapamas and choultries etc., are constructed by Endowments Department. The 'pedda patnam' celebrated on Maha Sivaratri day attract pilgrims in lakhs. It is located at a distance of 85 kms from the state capital on Karimnagar - Hyderabad - Highway (Rajiv Rahadari). People also calls him as "Komuravelli Mallanna", this temple is one of the famous temple in Telangana Region.

In the temple of Mallikarjuna of Inavolu near Warangal, men belonging to the kurumas and Gallas participate in the festival of Mallikarjuna on the occasion of Sankranti day. Their Gods Beerappa and Mallanna were equated with lord Mallikarjuna of Sriparvata. Thus the pastoral and tribal community and panchamas were also integrated or sanskritised through the process of fa'irs and festivals.

by...sanjeev gajula.