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This
small village lying on the bank of river Krishna, housing the
Bekkeswaralayam has a long legend. Its origin is as fantastic as,
its name; Bekku means "cat" according to Kannada language.
In addition to this ancient seat of Siva, there is a group of five
Sivaalayas going by the names of Siddheswara, Kapileswara, Someswara,
Malleswara and Kaleswara at a distance of 15 kilometres. Hence the
conjuncture that this was a famous Saivakshetra in the past. The
sthalapurana of this Bekkeswaralayam embodies an account, that once
this village 'Bekkam' was called Narasingarayapalli. One day,
according to legend a cowherd saw a cow going into the palm grove
and emptying its udder over an ant-hill voluntarily. Strangely
enough, a cat lying hidden in the ant-hill came out and drank the
entire quantity. When this oddity was reported, villagers dug out
the ant-hill and found a beautiful black Sivalinga. Deeming it a
great God-sent treasure, they built a small shrine and installed the
Sivalinga, and called it Bekkeswara; for, this area was then largely
populated by Kannadigas, and 'Bekku' in their language stands for
cat. Hasn't this Sivalinga emerged only due to the cat? Hence the
apt name. The lord too demonstrated his sports and showered boons.
Later some devout bhaktas brought two Sivalingas from Banaras and
installed in the same compound, but in separate shrines. They are
called Moksheswara and Sakaheswara popularly. Hence it was a sacred
yatrasthala in the past, and continues to be so although it is small
in dimensions.
It
lies in Mahaboobnagar district of Andhra Pradesh and accessible by
bus.
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