Parasurameswara Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Though a small village, historically it is very important, because it has a beautiful Siva Temple which is popularly known as “the Parasurameswara Temple.”The main importance of the temple lies in the Linga which is housed in the Garbhagriha of the temple and considered unique for its naturalistic depection. This is supposed to be the earliest Linga discovered so far and it has been assigned to the 3rd century BCE. The name of the temple is mentioned as Parasurameswara Temple in the inscriptions. These inscriptions do not refer to the original builders of the temple. But they register the gifts made to the temple like land, money and cows for the conduct of daily worship in the temple. The Black and Redware sherds of the 2nd or 3rd century AD have been brought to light during the course of excavations conducted in 1973. Potsherds of the Andhra Satavahana period (Circa 1st century AD to 2nd century AD) and large sized bricks measuring 42x21x6 inches of the same period have also been found. Hence some historians assign the temple to the Satavahana period.