India is a country of temples. There are many ancient temples in our country, which are either from another period or their history is thousands of years old. Today we are going to tell you about one such temple, whose history is related to the Ramayana period, especially Ravana. The temple is located in Bhatkal tehsil of Kannada district of Karnataka, which is surrounded by the Arabian Sea on three sides. Being on the beach, the scene around this temple is very beautiful.
Actually, we are talking about the Murudeshwar temple, which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. ‘Murudeshwar’ is a name of Lord Shiva. The most special thing about this temple is that a huge statue of Lord Shiva is installed in its premises, which is considered to be the second largest and highest Shiva statue (idol) in the world.
The height of this huge idol of Lord Shiva is about 123 feet. It has been made in such a way that the rays of the sun fall on it throughout the day, due to which the idol always shines. It took about two years to make it and cost about five crore rupees. Not only the country but also a large number of people come from abroad to see this special temple.
The soul of Lord Shiva is also established in the Murudeshwar temple. According to mythology, when Ravana was doing penance to Lord Shiva to get the boon of immortality, then Lord Shiva was pleased with his penance and gave him a Shivalinga, which is called ‘Atmalinga’ and said that if you want to be immortal, then take it to Lanka and install it, but keep in mind that wherever you keep it, it will be installed there.
According to Lord Shiva, Ravana was going towards Lanka with Shivalinga, but on the way he placed the Shivling on earth, which made him established there. This made Ravana angry and tried to destroy the Shivling.
In this sequence, the cloth from which the Shivalinga was covered fell on the mountain of Kanduka of Mripadeshwar. Mrideshwar is now known as Murudeshwar. This story is described in detail in the Shiva Purana.
