Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Kotilingeshawara - World's Largest Shiva Lingam



Kotilingeshwara is the principal deity of the Kotilingeshwara temple. This temple lies in the Kammasandra village in the district of Kolar in Karnataka state. It is about five kilometers from Kolar Gold Fields and about 6 Kilometers from Aalamaram. This place has the distinction of having one of the largest Shivalinga in the world. Over 2 Lakh divotees visit the temple on Maha Shivratri every year.

The main attraction of this peaceful retreat, which is surrounded by plush greenery, is a huge Shivalinga. Measuring 108 ft (33 m), this shivalinga is tallest of its kind in the world and accompanying it is a 35 ft (11 m) tall Basava, surrounded by lakhs of small shivalingas spread over an area of 15 acres (61,000 m2). So far, around 90 lakh shivalingas have been installed. The entire project involves the installation of one crore shivalingas of various sizes, hence the name ‘Kotilingeshwara’.

The credit for constructing the Kotilingeshwara temple rests with Swamy Sambha Shivamurthy. The temple can be visited from early morning till about 9 PM at night.

It is said that Lord Rama after defeating Ravana travelled from Dhanuskodi to Rameshwaram and installed the Linga. This was a noble way to providing moksha to those who perished. Lord Rama offered his prayers to this Linga and prayed for people who laid their lives down in the battle. It is said that in the Kali Yuga, the Kotilingeshwara temple has been built for instilling the same culture of peace, divinity and prosperity.

The Devotees can offer their prayers to Lord Kotilingeshwara by installing Lingas. The price for the Lingas depends on the size of the Linga to be installed. These informations will be available with the Executive Officer of the temple. The Lingas will be installed in the name of the devotee. One can find the names of the devotees carved on the Lingas installed and prayers will be offered every day for the well being of the donors.

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