Trikooteswara Temple,Narsaraopet

Significance
Trikooteswara temple is located atop the hill Kotappakonda and a flight of 750 steps lead to this abode of Lord Shiva.  The temple is an ancient structure built in the south Indian style of architecture. Known popularly year especially during the Mahasivaratri celebrations. Interestingly, Lord Trikooteswara is a Brahmachari and so tradition has it that the priests performing the worship services should also be Brahmacharis. The Lord is enshrined in the Sanctum Sanctorum and opposite him is the traditional image of Nandeswara. On the way to the temple is the shrine of a Goddess from the Yadava community and tradition has it that devotees should seek the blessings of the Goddess first before proceeding to take Darshan of Lord Trikooteswara. The Lord here is also worshipped as Koteswara and that led to the name of the hill Kotappa Konda. The temple has a lot of significance in the cultural and religious lives of people in the region or for that matter in the entire state. Common Telugu names like Kotayya, Kondayya,Kotamma, Kondamma and the likes owe their origin to the name of the hill Kotappa Konda.

History
The temple can be dated to the period of the Chalukyas and is said to be built by an ardent devotee named Elchuri Veeresalingam. Over the course of time, the temple fell under the patronage of the Velama Zamindars of Narsaraopet. who used to worship the Lord with great devotion. They made significant contributions to the temple and the tradition continued until the Zamindari system was abolished after India gained independence.

Legends
Legend has it that Lord Shiva was deeply disturbed over Goddess Parvathi giving up her life over the issue of ill-treatment meted out to her at the Yajana performed by her father. Lord Shiva couldnt come to terms with her loss and went in search of solitude. He found this place calm and relaxing and so started to meditate on top of the hill here. A shepherd used to graze his cattle daily on these hills and was surprised to see Lord Shiva meditating. After observing this strange visitor, who is always engaged in deep meditation, the shepherd started to bring milk every day to offer to the visitor. This continued for years and the shepherd grew old and could no longer climb up the hill. He was worried about the Lord and one day asked his daughter to carry milk for the Lord from then onwards. So from then on,the old mans daughter used to climb up the hill every day and offer milk to the Lord. The Lord was impressed by her and blessed her.The woman got pregnant by the Lords grace but became very anxious over the issue, as she is unmarried. The Lord asked her not to worry about the pregnancy and told her that she will give birth to the Lord himself, which will benefit entire mankind. As days passed, the woman couldnt climb up the hill any longer as she is into the later stages of her pregnancy and requested the Lord to comedown from the hills and reside in the plains. The Lord agreed on one condition  that she shouldn't turn to her back as long as she is guiding the Lord to the ground. Thus, they set out for the plains below. There are three peaks on the hill and the highest is where the Lord meditated, which went on to become the Rudra Sikharam. The second highest peak went on to become the Vishnu Sikharam. Once they reached the lowest peak there was abig sound and the lady got scared and turned behind. However, the Lord stopped here as the agreed to condition was broken and made the place, The Brahma Shikara, his new abode. He manifested here as Lord Trikooteswara and people began to worship the Lord ever since.