Om Namah Shivay! Lord Murudeshwara is another name of Lord Shiva. The Murudeshwara district in the state of Karnataka, India, is famous for the worlds second-tallest Lord Shiva statue (123 feet = 37 meters), the town lies on the coast of the Arabian Sea and is also famous for the Murudeshwara Temple.The origin of the name Murudeshwara dates to the time of Ramayana. Here Lanka King Ravan worshipped Lord Shiva to get divine Atma-Linga of Mahadeva to get immortality. Initially he was tricked by Narad Muni and he demanded Parvati from Mahadeva instead of the Atma Linga. Then after he again worshipped Lord Shiva & got that Atma Linga. Narada muni, who came to know of this incident, realised that with the Atma-Linga, Ravana may obtain immortality and create havoc on earth. He approached the Lord Ganesh and requested him to prevent the AtmaLinga from reaching Lanka. Lord Ganesh knew that Ravana was a very devoted person who used to perform prayer ritual in the evening every day without fail. As Ravana was nearing Gokarna, Lord Vishnu blotted out the sun to give the appearance of dusk. Ravana now had to perform his evening rituals but was worried because with the Atma-Linga in his hands, he would not be able to do his rituals. At this time, Lord Ganesh in the disguise of a Brahmin boy accosted him. Ravana requested him to hold the Atma-Linga until he performed his rituals, and asked him not to place it on the ground. Ganesh struck a deal with him saying that he would call Ravana thrice, and if Ravana did not return within that time, he would place the Atma-Linga on the ground. As predicted, before Ravana could return after completing his rituals, Lord Ganesh had already placed the Atma-Linga on the ground. Lord Vishnu then removed his illusion and it was daylight again. Ravana, realising that he had been tricked, tried to uproot and destroy it. Due to the force exerted by Ravana, some pieces were scattered. One such piece from the head of the linga is said to have fallen in present day Surathkal. The famous Sadashiva temple is said to be built around that piece of linga. Then he decided to destroy the covering of the Atma-Linga, and threw the case covering it to a place called Sajjeshwara, 23 miles away. Then he threw the lid of the case to a place called Guneshwara (now Gunavanthe) and Dhareshwara, 10–12 miles away. Finally, he threw the cloth covering the AtmaLinga to a place called Mrideshwara in Kanduka-Giri (Kanduka Hill). Mrideshwara has been renamed to Murudeshwar. Har Har Mahadeva!
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 06:50:13 +0000