Kotilingeshwara

Rahul Singi
Aug 8, 2016
2 min read

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.

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 100 lakh shivalingas have been installed. The entire project involves the installation of one crore shivalingas of various sizes, hence the name ‘Kotilingeshwara’.

In front of this huge Linga there is a huge Nandi (Animal mount of Lord Shiva) which is 35 feet (11 m) tall. The Nandi is installed over a platform which is 60 feet (18 m) in length, 40 feet (12 m) in width and 4 feet (1.2 m) in height.

Lord Kotilingeshwara temple was constructed over 13 acres (53,000 m2) of land in Kammasandra. The first Linga was installed in the year 1980 on October 10.

There are many other subsidiary temples where you can see many Gods and Goddesses. In Brahma-Vishnu- Shiva temple one can see the idols of Brhama, Vishnu and Shiva along with their consorts, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvathi respectively. At the entrance of the inner sanctum there is Satyanarayana Swami Idol. On the walls of the sanctum one can also see beautifully sculptures idols of Ashta Lakshmi forms or eight forms of Goddess Lakshmi.