Sri Tandava Malleswara Swami

The Srisaila Mallikharjuna Jyothir ling, the second among Dwadasha Jyotir ling, is located in the Nallamala forest. In the Srisailam Pilgrimage, Sri Thandava Malleswar Swamy temple accompanied with Sri parvathi Devi can also be visited located in Kothapalle village of Kothapalle mandal in Nallamala forest area at a distance about 60 km from Nandyal and 30 km from Atmakuru. Since Mallikharjuna Jyotir ling and Bramarambika the sixth Shakti peeth among the Astadasa Sakthi Peeth located in Srisailam and due to the high transport facility to Srisailam, thousands of devotees visit Srisailam. Kothapalle Village of Kothapalle Mandal in Nandyal District, where Sri Tandava Malleswara Swamy Temple is located used to be four villages namely 1.Harivaram, 2.Chinthalapalle, 3.Tulsipuram, 4.Padu. Kothapalle village was formed by the amalgamation of the four villages subsequently and Kothapalli Mandal also formed.
Sri Tandava Malleswara Shiva ling which looks like Srisaila Mallikarjuna Jyothir ling is also smaller. Pandava performed anointing and worshipped the Tandava Malleswara Shivlinga during their exile in Dwapara Yug according to legends. It is said that in the present Kali era, the Chola King Bhupal found the Shiva Ling of Sri Tandava Malleswara which was covered with boulders from the past five thousand years and after knowing that this area was a sacred place built the temple. According to the available information, while Sri Krishna Devaraya built the main tower of Srisailam temple, he found the Talapatra Grandh as inscriptions in the temple of Bayalu Veerabhadra on the border of Srisailam and knew the majesty of Sri Tandava Malleswara Shiva ling and worshiped the Lord. Sri Parvati Devi and Sri Tandava Malleswara Swamy Kalyan will be performed on the day of Sankranti during the Uttarayan along with Palanquin Seva and Prabhotsav.
This ancient Shiva temple is under the management of Endowment Department and is in a dilapidated state. It is requested that a part of the income of Shiva temples like Shisailam, Varanasi may be allocated and efforts should be made to restore the ancient and dilapidated Shiva temples like Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam is allotting funds for renovation of the dilapidated temples.