14th February, 2020
On our way to Bangalore from Tirupathi Darshan and SriKalaHasti Darshan, we had planned to visit Kotilingeshwara Temple, Kolar, near Bangalore. It was very surprising for me when I heard this place existed since a very long time and yet I never discovered it although I have been staying in Bangalore for almost 8 years now. Another surprising part of this discovery was, Aakanksha and I both of us discovered about this place on the same day ! Coincidence ? No, there is no such thing !
We reached to the temple around 04:30 pm. Like any other holy places, corridor to the temple was surrounded with shops to buy flowers, diyas and other items to perform rituals inside the temple. We bought some of these items and joined a queue in a narrow passage to enter the temple.
We were stunned to see enormous number of Shivlingas, as we entered inside. We had never seen anything like this before !
There are quite a few temples in the premises, so we started visiting them one by one. As we entered 1st temple, we realised that it was not just Lord Shiva's temple but there were all 3 deities Lord Bramha, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva with their wives Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Laxmi and Goddess Parvati respectively.
It was a first time I was seeing a temple of Lord Bramha. I had read a story recently in Shiv Puran about why Lord Bramha's temple exists only at Pushkar and nowhere else. While I was thinking about the same, sage from the temple came forward and started speaking in Kannada. He mentioned the exact same thing that apart from a temple in Pushkar, this is another temple of Lord Bramha that exits here at Kotilingeshwara.
After we exited 1st temple, we clicked few pictures of Ayaansh and Shivlingas in the premises before moving to next temple.
While moving ahead from one temple to another in the premises, we realised that placement of the temples were made very strategically. One has to go through each temple to reach the final section of the temple's premises.
Unfortunately, Bramhanas in each temple were taking advantage of this strategic placement for their personal benefits. They didn't allow anyone to pass from one temple to another without donating some amount in the plate of aarti they were holding. One Bramhana insisted to donate 50 rupees at least. We were appalled to see such behaviour !
Soon after we were done visiting all the temples, we reached to the final section of the premises where we came across 108 feet tall Magnificent Shivlainga.
Interesting Facts About 108
If there were to be a numerical symbol of yoga it would have to be 108. The number is esteemed esoterically, and through 108, the union between the microcosm and macrocosm is depicted concretely.
The importance of the number 108 can be seen repetitively in astronomy and astrology:
In Vedic astrology there are 12 solar houses and 9 lunar houses, 9 x 12 = 108.
The diameter of the sun is about ~108 times that of the diameter of Earth.
The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is ~108 times the sun’s diameter.
The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 238,800 miles, about ~108 times the moons diameter. This makes it so the moon appears the same size as the sun during eclipses.
In taking this universal element and applying it to the individual, you may notice that:
Yogis do 108 sun salutations on solstices and equinoxes
Meditators count mantra repetitions with mala beads of 108, (100 counted for self, 8 for mistakes and for those who have not the opportunity to meditate in mantra)
Tai chi chuan long forms are counted as 108 postures or movements.
Practicing meditative movement and meditation helps us unite our mental, physical, and spiritual aspects with the natural or universal elements. The same principles and relationships can be applied to the interaction of the individual with the collective of individuals. We are all, no matter our differences, united by our natural settings and conditions.
108 is illustrative of the simplest, and yet pinnacle guide to meditation:
1 for focusing on one thing, the verticality of the breath
0 for maintaining zero senses or preconceptions so as to be open
8 for uniting with the flow of the infinite
Koti - Lingrshwara
This spectacular 108 feet Shivlinga was surrounded with other huge number of Shivlingas. There is an interesting story behind this place as why is this called Koti (Crore) - Ligeshwara. Currently there are 9 million (90 Lakh) Shivlingas but originally it was planned to have 10 million (1 Koti) Shivlingas.
While we were admiring the devotion of the devotees who came forward to build this place, we couldn't fail to notice some disgusting, ill mannered people had left plastic bottles, wrappers of chocolates, polythene bags, etc, littered all around the Shivlingas. We took this as an opportunity to offer our worship to Lord Shiva and collected most of these littered garbage and put it in dustbin nearby.
Meanwhile Ayaansh enjoyed running around and had lot of fun !
Bidding Adieu
Whole premises started shining with glory as Sun was about to set behind the tall majestic Shivlinga.
Ayaansh was very cranky and refused to leave the place but finally we had to start our journey back to home. We decided to come back here again, specially when our parents are in town and we bid adieu to the place !
Good info about 108!!!