Sri Moolastaneswara Swamy Temple, Nellore
History of temple (Sthala Purana):-
The oldest temple is Shree Shaiva Kshetra dating back to around 11th century. In the past, Trinetrudu anu Mukkanti Reddy kings used to draw milk from the herd even if there were cows on the day a cow gave birth. The royal court punished the cowherd for not giving milk on the day of the cow. But the cowherd found out that the cowherd found out that even though there was a cow’s linga near the place, they anointed the linga with milk. When he hit Putta with a knife, he hit the upper part of the lingam and blood flowed. The cowherd informed the king of Mukkanti Reddy that night, Lord Shiva appeared in his dream and told him to build a temple there. Since then, the kings of Sri Mukhati Reddy built the temple. The stone Nandi mandapam in front of this temple has a wooden platform on stilts. Some historical records show that some stone structures were built in this temple even during the time of the Chola kings. It is known from the stone structure that Sri Swami appeared under the Nelli tree and this town is called Nellore. The area is called Moolapeta.
Sri Mulasthaneswara Swamy and Sri Bhuvaneshwari are standing in search of the wishes of many devotees. In this temple are Sri Vinayaka Swami, Sri Valla Devasena Sri Subrahmanyaswara Swami, Sri Kala Bhairava Swami Sri Virabadra Swami and Sri Sahasra Lingeswara Swami Sri Saraswati Ammavara and Sri Durga Devi Ammavara and Sri Dakshina Murthy Swami Navagrahams and Sri Nataraja Swami. Sri Satyabhama along with Sri Venugopala Swami and Sri Surya Narayana Swami are chasing in the temple precincts.
Legends associated with Mulasthaneswara Swamy Temple
Tikkana Somayaji started Mahabharatha translation into Telugu only after offering prayers to the deity here.
The legend goes this way, There was a cattle baron by name Mukanti Reddy, who used to gaze on the rich grass in the forest. One day Mukanti noticed that one of his cows is not yielding milk and instructed cowherd to keep an eye on this cow and find out why it is not giving milk. The cowherd kept an eye on the cow and followed it when it moved away from the others. Cowherd noticed that cow is emptying its milk on an ant-hill. In a bit anger he raised his axe to beat the cow, a cow escaped from the cowherd’s axe but it hit the rock in the ant-hill from where the blood starts oozing out.
Cowherd in fear ran to his master and updated the same on this. Later in the night, Mukanti had a dream, where it is instructed by natural spirits to build a temple for this Shiva Lingam. As instructed, Mukanti built the temple, Thus the place came to known as ‘Mulasthana Ishwara’.
How to reach Mulasthaneswara Swamy Temple
- Temple is located in Mulapeta, which is 2 km from Nellore bus station.
- It is 133 km away from Tirupati. The direct bus is available from Tirupati to Nellore at regular intervals.
- Bus frequency is quite high from Tirupati and Chennai cities to Nellore.