According to the legend, this temple was constructed by the Pandavas during their exile in the forest (araṇyavāsam).
Bheemalingeshwara Temple: During Agnathavaasa of Pandava, they stayed in Kaiwara (then Ekachakrapura) for one year.
Coincidentally, King Shantanu, the great-grandfather of the Pandavas, was crossing from there and saw the children by the wayside.
According to a legend of the Mahabharata, banni tree was used by the Pandavas to hide their arms during their one-year period of Agnatavasa (living life incognito).
The earliest known mention of this town is in the Brahmanda Purana, when Garga Muni talks about this place to the Pandavas, during their exile.
The epic Mahabharata calls it Girivraja and recount the story of its king, Jarasandha, and his battle with the Pandava brothers and their allies Krishna.
Tradition has it that it was founded by Sahadeva, the youngest of the Pandava brothers, and hence was called Sahadevapatna/Sahadevapura.
Even in the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic, it is mentioned that the Pandavas had visited the place while they were in exile.
The 18-day period is spent in prayer and fasting, with a priest reciting the Mahabharata epic to remind everyone of the story of Draupadi, the five Pandava brothers' common wife, whose chaste and virtuous ways enabled her to recover the kingdom they been deprived of by King Duryodhana.
The exterior of the temple is exquisitely and profusely ornamented with figures of the nine planets, regent deities, the chief gods of the Hindu pantheon, scenes from the life of Krishna and Pandava princes, besides the varied animal and floral motifs.
Pandava |
By the time of the Battle of Kurukshetra, Sini's grandson Satyaki, now a king of the Vrishnis, was allied with the Pandava army while Bhurishravas, now aged, sided with the Kauravas and was one of the eleven commanders of the Kaurava army.
The Pandavas during the initial years of their 12-year exile to the forests, came to the Dvaita Forest from the Kamyaka woods, to avoid frequent visits from the people of Kurujangala.
The legend about Kamada Ekadashi is narrated by the god Krishna to the Pandava King Yudhishtira in the Varaha Purana, as it was told by the sage Vasishtha to King Dilipa.
According to the local people, this temple and the adjoining area are believed to be where Duryodhana of Mahabharata episode conspired to burn alive the Pandava in the Lakshyagriha house, constructed with shellac.
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The local people think that the Pandava took refuge in this cave to save themselves from Duryodhana.
It is believed that the eldest Pandava brother, Prince Yudhisthira of Mahabharata, established the temple and the Nigambodh Ghat adjacent to it, and conducted Aswamedha yajna from here.
Bhishma and Karna, half brother of Pandava also took instruction in weaponry from Parashurama, a disciple of lord Shiva, and was known to have terrible temper having lost his father to the evil Asura.
He was very effective in portraying Satyavan in Savithri, Rama in Paduka, Dushyant in Shakuntala, Sarangadhara in Sarangadhara, Arjuna in Gayopakhyanam, Bahuka in Chitranaleeyam, and as Duryodhana in Veni Samharam, Draupadi Vastrapaharanam and Pandava Udyoga Vijayam plays.
As they were discussing upon their course of action the Pandava princes came across a Brahmin who complained that a deer has taken his Arani1 (The pair of wooden blocks to generate fire by friction) on its antlers and therefore he was not able to light the fire for the performance of Vedic rituals.