The Hindu
KURNOOL, INDIA, December 26, 2004: The centuries-old Sangameswara temple at the confluence of the Krishna and the Bhavanasi near Muchumarri in Kurnool district is facing permanent submersion. This follows the Andhra Pradesh Government’s decision to raise the minimum level in the Srisailam reservoir from 834 feet to 854 feet to make the Srisailam Right Main Canal operational for a longer duration each year. This modification was widely welcomed since the canal supplies water to the Srisailam Right Branch Canal, the Telugu Ganga and the Kurnool-Cuddapah canal. Yet, the thought that the Sangameswara temple may not surface as usual by Sivaratri and remain inaccessible to devotees, pains many. The temple, which gets submerged each year when the reservoir gets filled up, emerges when the water level recedes. The roof of the temple was sighted a few days ago after the Srisailam reservoir level fell to 861 feet. Nivruthi Sangameswaram has great spiritual significance because of its antiquity and the fact that the temple stands at the confluence of the Krishna with the seventh tributary (saptha sangamam) of the Bhavanasi. The shrine finds a prominent place in Skanda Purana.