The Thousand Shrines of Sahasralinga

There is a house inward the district of Uttara Kannada of Karnataka patch inward Republic of Republic of India , where hundreds of shrines of the Hindu god Shiva are carved inward the exposed rocks of the Shalmala riverbed together with on its banks. The site is called Sahasralinga , literally , “a K lingas” , together with is located inward the marrow of a woods inward the Western Ghats. The nearest town is Sirsi Taluk , some 17 km away. The best fourth dimension to catch the house is when the H2O score inward the river is depression , together with most of the shrines are visible along amongst their bases called “yonis”. Originally , every linga had a carved figure of the holy bull called Nandi facing it , but many of these convey been damaged together with some are missing. On the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri , a Hindu festival , thousands of pilgrims throng to this house to worship Lord Shiva.

The shrines are believed to convey been built on the social club of Sadashiva Raya , the manlike soul monarch of Sirsi , of the Vijayanagar Kingdom during 1678-1718. According to a local legend , the manlike soul monarch commissioned them on the belief that doing then mightiness aid him beget an heir to his kingdom.

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Photo credit: Unique Creator/Wikimedia

It should move noted that places similar Sahasralinga are non uncommon inward India. In Orissa together with nigh Hampi inward Karnataka , at that topographic point are sites where hundreds of lingas are curved inward the rocks. But Sahasralinga is unique because the shrines are of diverse sizes together with scattered all over the river bed over a broad area. It’s hard to tell how many shrines are at that topographic point at Sahasralinga.

There is some other Sahasralinga , inward far away Kingdom of Cambodia , well-nigh 25 km from the famous Hindu temple of Angkor Wat. The house is called Kbal Spean , which way “Bridge Head” , but is unremarkably known every bit the “Valley of 1 K lingas”. Along amongst lingas , at that topographic point are diverse Hindu mythological motifs inward that river bed including depictions of Shiva , Vishnu , Brahma , Lakshmi , Rama , together with Hanuman , too every bit animals such every bit cows together with frogs.

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