Puttur Mahalingeshwara Shiva Temple Puttur Coastal Karnataka

This temple of Mahalingeshwar is a very historical place which dates back to the 11th -12th centuries. The saga behind the origin of the temple is that long ago three Shaivite Brahmins went for a pilgrimage to the South of India. Admiring a holy Shivalinga that they had got from the sacred place called Kashi, they started their divine tour. All the three Brahmins were diligent worshippers of Lord Shiva. Travelling, they reached a place called Gayapada Kshetra near Puttur. The other day two of the Brahmins went to visit king Banga. The King was somehow very worried for his sister as she was going through labor pain. But seeing the brilliance and divinity on the face of the Brahmins, a minister expressed the King's reason for ignoring the Brahmins. This was the time when the Brahmins blessed saying that the King's sister would deliver safely and would give birth to a baby boy. To everyone's amazement this came true. Thus when the King learnt about the whole incident he instantly prearranged for worshipping of the Lord. On a certain day the Brahmin intentionally or unintentionally placed the Shiva Linga on land without anything below the Shiva Linga. After worshipping the Shiva Linga, he tried to lift it up but he couldn't. There were many efforts made to lift the Shiva Linga but nothing proved fruitful. Then an elephant was brought but this was when the Shiva Linga enlarged in huge proportions and the enormous animal was dispersed in different directions. Since then it was a belief that this Shiva Linga was meant to be in the soil of Puttur and this place became the holy temple of Mahalingeshwar. As the name itself means “Maha” i.e. Huge and “Lingeshwar” i.e. ShivaLinga.