Kotilingeshwara Temple, Kolar.. Sri Kotilingeshwara Temple is a temple located in a village in Kolar district, Karnataka. The chief deity present in this temple is Lord Shiva. The temple contains lot of Shiva Lingams, which provides great feast to our eyes, and to our soul.
The main attraction of the temple is a huge lingam and also a tall Nandi idol, surrounded by lakhs and lakhs of small lingams. A sacred tank is established close to the Shiva Lingam, for the purpose of performing holy bath (Abhishekham) by the devotees.
There is also a guest house, a marriage hall, a meditation hall and an exhibition centre located close to the temple. The temple Lingam is considered as the tallest Lingam in Asia. ‘Koti’ in Kannada means a crore and in this Kotilingeshwara Shiva temple, we could find about one crore Shiva Lingams. Apart from Kotilingeswara, the idol Lord Nandi, is the main attraction of the temple. The temple welcomes donations of Shivalingas of various sizes from the devotees, which can be installed with the name of the donor installed on it. In 1980, the temple was built by Sri Swami Sambha Shiva Murthy.
The temple attracts millions of tourists and devotees on the auspicious day of Maha Shivaratri. There are about eleven small temples constructed within the premises for various deities like Lord Vishnu, Brahma, Maheshwara, Rama, Ma Annapoorneshwari, Ma Karumaari Amman, Lord Venkataramanar, Lord Panduranga, Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana Temple, Lord Panchamukha Ganapathy, Lord Anjaneya, and Ma Kannika Parameshwari Temple. The temple mostly kept open at 6:00 am onwards, and closes at 9:00 pm.
We can also recite the following praises on Lord Kotilingeswara:
‘I bow to Lord Kotilingeswara. You are the supreme reality, the inner Self. You dwell in all.’
Om, let me meditate on the great Paratma, Parama Purusha, Oh, greatest God Kotilingeswara, give me higher intellect, and let Lord Kotilingeswara illuminate my mind.’ My humble salutations to the Supreme One, Lord Kotilingeswara, to cleanse the body, mind and soul from stress, failures and depression. We worship the great Three-eyed Lord Kotilingeswara who is omnipotent, and who lives in all beings. Let him liberate us from death for the sake of immortality.’
Oh Lord Kotilingeswara, you are the one who has conquered death and responsible for the destruction of the Universe to let life again prevail on the earth. Oh lord, you are the most worshipful Neelkantha since you have a blue throat. We pay our humble respects to you lord with our folded hands.’
Oh Lord Kotilingeswara, you are Pure White like Camphor, an Incarnation of Compassion, the Essence of Worldly Existence, Whose Garland is the King of Serpents,
and Always Dwelling inside in the Heart of your devotees.
I Bow to Lord Kotilingeswara and Mata Kotilingeswari again and again, again and again, and at all times.
“OM SRI KOTILINGESWARAYA NAMO NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R. HARISHANKAR