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The
glory of this holy kshetra began with Markandeya maharshi and was
heightened later by a Muslim king with the building of a temple for
Anantha padmanabhaswamy. The present shrine owes its existence to a
devout village chief, who when directed in dream by the presiding
deity erected a merest sized temple. Its past is elaborately
described in Skanda and Vishnu Puranas. According to legends, when
Markandaya prayed to Brahma for showing him a suitable place for
penance, Brahma directed him to this place and after Bhagavat
Sakshatkaara, Markandeya dwelt here for long, installing the Vaudeva
salagram in a decency built temple. During then he pleased Mother
Ganga with his earnest prayers and made her present in the tank, he
materialized with his soul power. And moreover, she promised to
visit every year once to this temple Pushkarini through underground
passage. This, no doubt enhanced the glory of this kshetra. After
his demise this was completely obscured due to sumptuous growth of
forests, and the salagram disappeared. But during
the reign of a certain Nizam Nawab, he was cured of his ailment on
drinking the water of the pond by the grace of salagram hidden in a
tank.
He built a temple as directed in the dream.
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