Keesaragutta

About 40 km away from Hyderabad and built on a small hillock, the Keesaragutta temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and his consorts, Shivadurga and Bhavani.

 There is an interesting story about how the temple got its name. To atone for his sins in killing Ravana, Lord Rama chose this beautiful valley to establish a Shivalinga. 

He asked Hanuman to bring him a Shivalinga. As the auspicious hour was almost at an end without any sign of Hanuman, Lord Shiva himself appeared and presented Rama with a Shivalinga. Hence the Shivalinga in the temple is also called Swayambu linga and Ramalingeshwara.

Meanwhile, unable to find out the perfect Shivalingam, Hanuman returned with 101 Shivalingas for Rama to select. 

On seeing the installed Shivalinga, he became upset and threw the ones he carried. One can still see the scattered Shivalingas around the temple.

 In an attempt to mellow down Hanuman, Rama promised him that he would be the first one to be worshipped here, and the hillock on which the temple would stand, will bear his name - Kesarigiri. However, the pronunciation changed with time, to become Keesaragutta. Today, the temple attracts huge masses during Shivaratri.