Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam

Listen first. Bells ring in uneven rhythm from somewhere inside the walls. Bare feet slap against stone that is cool in the shade and warm where the sun has reached it. The air smells of camphor, wet flowers and the smoke of oil lamps. Around you, pilgrims murmur prayers in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. You are standing on a hilltop in the Nallamala forest, and this is one of the holiest places in South India.

The temple belongs to two deities who share this ground. One is Mallikarjuna, a form of Shiva, the great god of destruction and renewal in Hinduism. The other is Bhramaramba, a form of the goddess Parvati, his consort. Most temples honour one of these sacred categories. This one honours both. It is counted among the twelve Jyotirlingas, the shrines where Shiva is said to have appeared as a column of light. It is also counted among the Shakti Peethas, the seats of the goddess.

That double status is the first surprise for many visitors. Very few places in India hold both titles. For devotees, this means a single climb up these hills brings blessings from Shiva and from the goddess together. You will notice that many pilgrims visit the Mallikarjuna shrine first and then walk on to Bhramaramba. The movement between the two is part of the ritual, not a detour.

Now look at the walls that surround the complex. They are tall, thick, and built of large dressed stone blocks. Their outer faces carry long bands of carved panels. You can pick out elephants, horses, hunters, dancers, sages and scenes from Hindu stories. Many of these carvings are associated with the Vijayanagara period, the powerful South Indian empire that rose in the fourteenth century. The stone has darkened and softened with weather, so walk slowly and let your eyes adjust to the shallow relief.

Above the walls rise the gopurams. A gopuram is the tall, tiered gateway tower typical of South Indian Dravidian temples. Each level narrows as it climbs, and each is crowded with figures of gods and guardians. Popular tradition credits one of the gateways to the Maratha king Shivaji, who is said to have visited Srisailam in the seventeenth century. Treat that as a story often told here rather than a settled fact, but it shows how far this temple's reputation travelled.

Where does the name come from? Here, history gives way to legend. According to one popular tale, a princess named Chandravati worshipped Shiva in this forest with jasmine flowers. In Sanskrit and Telugu, jasmine is mallika. Shiva, pleased by her devotion, took the name Mallikarjuna. Locals tell other versions too, but the jasmine story is the one you will hear most often.

Another legend explains why Shiva and Parvati came to these hills at all. Their son Kartikeya, the warrior god, lost a famous contest to his brother Ganesha. Hurt and angry, he left the divine home on Mount Kailash and settled in the south. His parents followed him to be near him. In this telling, the temple marks the place where a family tried to make peace. It is a very human story for such a sacred site.

The goddess has her own legend, and it is linked to a sound. Bhramara means bee. Locals say that Parvati took the form of a swarm of bees to destroy a demon who could not be killed by any two-legged or four-legged creature. A bee, of course, has six legs. Pilgrims at the Bhramaramba shrine sometimes press an ear to a small opening in the wall behind the sanctum. Many say they can hear a faint humming inside. Try it, if the queue allows.

Inside the main sanctum, the lingam of Mallikarjuna is small and dark, framed by flowers and lamplight. A lingam is the rounded stone form that represents Shiva. The space around it is low and close, and the air grows warm with bodies and flame. Depending on the day and the crowd, the temple may offer a form of worship where devotees can touch the lingam directly. That is unusual among major Shiva shrines, and it means a great deal to those who come here.

Step back and think about the landscape. Srisailam sits high above a deep gorge of the Krishna River, one of the great rivers of the Deccan plateau. The surrounding Nallamala hills are covered in dry forest, and much of it lies within a large tiger reserve. For centuries the forest was the home of the Chenchu, an Indigenous community of the hills. Local tradition links them closely to the god of this temple, and some stories even describe Mallikarjuna marrying a Chenchu woman.

That connection is the second thing most visitors miss. This is a temple of kings and Sanskrit hymns, but it is also a forest shrine with deep local roots. Tradition also holds that the philosopher Adi Shankara, a key figure in Hindu thought, stayed in these hills and composed devotional verses here. Like many claims about this place, it lives in memory more than in documents, and that is part of its character.

The rhythm of Srisailam changes with the calendar. On ordinary mornings you may find long but steady lines and quiet corners in the courtyards. During Maha Shivaratri, the great night of Shiva, the town fills with huge crowds who walk, chant and keep vigil. Watch for the monkeys on the walls and rooftops at any season. They are bold, they know what a bag of offerings looks like, and they are faster than you.

Before you leave, stand in the open courtyard for a moment. Look up at the gopuram against the sky, then down at the stone paving, worn smooth by countless bare feet. Listen again to the bells, the chanting and the soft slap of footsteps. As you walk out through the gateway, notice the forest hills beyond the town. The temple has drawn people up this road for centuries, and today, for a little while, you are one of them.