मल्लिकार्जुन श्रीशैलम्: देवी समाहित पर्वत ज्योतिर्लिंग

The Myth and Origin of Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga

The principal myth of Srisailam draws from the Skanda Purana and concerns the great wedding crisis of Kartikeya (also known as Muruga). When Shiva and Parvati organized a contest for their sons — that whichever completed a circumambulation of the universe first would marry first — Kartikeya mounted his peacock and flew off around the world. Ganesha, understanding that his parents represented the universe itself, simply walked around them once. Ganesha won, married, and received the first blessing. When Kartikeya returned and learned what had happened, he was furious and heartbroken. He left the family home on Mount Kailash and settled on Shri Shaila, a mountain in what is now Andhra Pradesh, announcing he would remain there as an ascetic. Shiva and Parvati followed, overcome with parental love, and took up residence on the mountain in a form of light that became the Jyotirlinga Mallikarjuna. The name combines Mallika — jasmine, the flower most dear to Parvati — and Arjuna, a name for Shiva meaning bright or white. The mountain is also a Shakti Pitha: the upper lip of Sati is said to have fallen here, and Parvati is worshipped as Bhramaramba — the Goddess of Bees — a reference to legends of her appearing in that form to battle demons on this mountain, revealing that the sweetness of the divine is also its most ferocious defense.