Kotilingeshwara Temple – Kolar

About

Kotilingeshwara temple has been constructed by Swami Sambha Shiva Murthy in the year 1980. The first linga was installed in 1980 and since then there have been many lingas present in the temple.

The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Shiva. The temple has one of the largest lingams in the world.

The main attraction of the temple is a huge linga measuring 108 ft (33 m) tall and 35 ft (11 m) tall Lord Nandi idol, surrounded by lakhs of small lingas spread over an area of 15 acres (61,000 m2). The Lord Nandi idol is installed over a platform that is 60 feet (18 m) in length, 40 feet (12 m) in width, and 4 feet (1.2 m) in height. There are eleven small temples constructed within the premises for various deities. A water tank is set up close to the Linga, used by the devotees to perform Abhisheka. The idols vary between 1 foot (0.30 m) and 3 feet (0.91 m) in height.

There is also a huge and tall Nandi installed beside the linga. The Nandi is 11 mt tall and sits over a huge platform. Within the premises of the temple, there are about eleven other temples for different deities. This is followed by a temple of Lord Kotilingeshwara. Apart from the main shrine Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Maheshwara temples, Venkataramani Swamy Temple, Goddess Annapoorneshwari Temple, Lord Panduranga Swamy Temple, Lord Panchamukha Ganapathy temple, Lord Rama, Lakshmana and Sita Temple, Lord Anjaneya Temple, Goddess Kanyaka Parameshwari Temple, and Goddess Karumaari Amma Temple.

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The place currently has about 90 lakhs of shiva lingas. Based on the donations from the devotees, this place will eventually have 1 crore shiva lingas.