Sri Chaya Someshwara Temple

The temple is said to have been built in the middle of the 11^th century by the Kunduru Choda dynasty. It is a Trikutalayam with three sanctums dedicated to Lord Shiva (In the Lingam form), Lord Vishnu, and Lord Suryanarayana (the Sun God). The mandapam in the center is equidistant to all three sanctums. There are smaller shrines (which were built at a later period), around the main temple.

The temple is called Chaya Someshwara, as it displays an architectural marvel of having a vertical shadow created by all four pillars behind the Shivalinga all through the day. The pillars are strategically placed, so that the light that falls, creates a unified shadow from morning to night, by refraction of light. It is said that the shadow also appears at midnight on every full moon day.

The word Someshwara means the Lord of Soma (The moon God), who is none other than Lord Shiva as the Moon God is said to have prayed to Lord Shiva. The word “Chaya” means Shadow.

The Vimana over the Garbhagriha is a Phamsana type of structure. Miniature carvings of scenes from the Ramayana and other Pauranic stories are found on the four pillars of the Mandapa. The ceiling has carvings of the Asta Digpalas and Nataraja(Dancing Shiva). There is a temple pond which is cleaned and maintained by the local community and gets water from Udayasamudram, a man-made reservoir. Devotees throng the temple on Maha Shivratri and Kartika Paurnami festivals.