Important information

Address : Panapal, Nalgonda district, Telangana 508004.
Open and Close Timing : 06:00 AM to 01:00 PM and 03:00 to 06:00 PM.
Nearest Railway Station : Nalgonda Railway Station (NLDA) at a distance of nearly 13.9 kilometres from Sri Chaya Someshwara Temple.
Nearest Airport : Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at a distance of nearly 117 kilometres from Sri Chaya Someshwara Temple.
Did you Know: A feature of the Chaya Someshwar temple is that the Shivalinga installed in the temple has the shadow of a pillar throughout the day, but how that shadow is formed is not known till date.

Chaya Someshwar Temple is a Hindu temple completely dedicated to Lord Shiva. Chaya Someshwara Temple is located at Panapal in Nalgonda district of the Indian state of Telangana. Chaya Someshwar Temple is about 800 years old, the name of this temple comes in the ancient temples of Lord Shiva.

A feature of the Chaya Someshwar temple is that the Shivalinga installed in the temple has the shadow of a pillar throughout the day, but how that shadow is formed is not known till date. There is no pillar in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, whose shadow falls on the Shivling. Certainly, the design and location of the pillars outside the temple have been made in such a way that according to the mutual shadow of those pillars and the angle of the sun, the shadow of a pillar falls on the Shivling.

The ancient Indian architecture was so advanced that the temples are full of such wonders. The Islamic invasions on the temples of North India had a profound effect, and thousands of temples were demolished, but in the south, the Islamic invaders could not reach due to Shivaji and other Tamil-Telugu empires. In the south, not many temples were demolished by the Mughals, and that is why the architecture of the temples of the south still exists in its old form.

The Chaya Someshwara Temple was built in the middle of the 11th century by the kings of the Kundaru Chola kingdom. Some consider it to be from the end of the 11th century to the beginning of the 12th century. All the pillars of this temple are depicted with pictures from the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

According to a physicist Manohar Sheshagiri, the direction of the temple is east-west and the artisans of ancient times, displaying their scientific knowledge, knowledge of nature and amazing knowledge of geometry and reflection of sun rays, have kept the position of various pillars in such a way, Because the sun is in any direction, this shadow will continue to fall on the Shivling of the temple.

The Chaya Someshwara Temple has three sanctums (sanctum sanctorum), a form of temple architecture known as Trikutalayam. These three sanctums are dedicated to Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Surya. There is a temple of Lord Surya Dev in the east and Lord Vishnu in the north. The third temple which is the main temple has Lord Shiva as the main deity in the form of a lingam. The three shrines share a common hall (mandapam) with intricately carved pillars in the Telingana style. The temple is a popular pilgrimage site during Maha Shivratri. The temple has three entrances.