Kotilingeshwara Shiva Temple

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Kotilingeshwara Shiva Temple

Kotilingeshwara
is the presiding deity of the temple of the same name in the village of Kammasandra in India. Kammasandra is a small village situated in Kolar district of Karnataka state. It is about five kilometers from Kolar Gold Fields and about 6 Kilometers from Aaladamara (Bharath Nagar) Bus stop, near BEML nagar.

This place has the distinction of having one of the largest Shivalinga in the world. Over 2 Lakh devotees 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 m[SUP]2[/SUP]). 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 Lord Kotilingeshwara Temple is situated in Kammasandra Village in Kolar district, Karnataka State, India. The temple is about 6 km from Kolar Gold Fields also known as KGF. The main deity of this temple is Lord Kotilingeshwara. This Temple was constructed by Swamy Sambha Shiva Murthy which is open to public from early morning till 9.30 p.m.

There are eleven small temples of various deities constructed within the premises of the Lord Kotilingeshwara temple. The first to be constructed is the Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Maheshwara temple, followed by the main deity temple Lord Kotilingeshwara. The sequence of the other temples are Lord Venkataramani Swamy Temple, Goddess Annapoorneshwari Temple, Lord Panduranga Swamy Temple, Lord Panchamukha Ganapathy temple, Lord Rama, Lakshmana and Sita Temple, Lord Anjaneya Temple, Goddess Kannika Parameshwari Temple and finally Goddess Karumaari Amma Temple.

There are millions of Lingas being installed surrounding the temple by the pilgrims since 1980 spread over an area of 13 acres (53,000 m[SUP]2[/SUP]). There are more than 8.6 million Lingas installed as of 2008. The lingas installed vary between 1 foot (0.30 m) and 3 feet (0.91 m) tall.The temple was started with the intent of installing 1 crore lingas, hence the name "Kotilingeshwara". Koti means crore (10 million).


History of the Temple

In Threta Yuga, Ramayana one of the greatest ancient Sanskrit epics, depicts the battle between Lord Sri Rama (Incarnation of Lord Vishnu in Threta Yuga) and Demon King Ravana. It was a very long and deadly battle that took many lives away. While Lord Rama triumphed in his battle against evil, as a noble gesture of providing salvation to those who perished, He travelled to Rameswaram from Dhanuskodi and installed a Linga in the banks of the River. He offered prayers to the Linga and prayed for all the people who lost their lives in the battle.

Similarly in Kali Yuga, in order to instill the culture of divinity, peace and prosperity Lord Kotilingeshwara temple was constructed over 13 acres (53,000 m[SUP]2[/SUP]) of land in Kammasandra. The first Linga was installed in the year 1980 on October 10. Later the Sanctum for the main deity was constructed. From then on many more Lingas are being installed surrounding the temple, till date 90 lakhs lingas are there in the temple.


Kotilingeshwara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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I visited this temple on the insistence of a friend, and was rather dismayed. It looks good in pictures, but reality is much different. Most of the lingas are covered with withered garlands, and the entire precincts is very dry and dusty. The road which branches off to the temple is also potholed and in dire need of repair. This is the case with many temples in India.
 
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