Kotilingeshwara Temple

Kotilingeshwara, as the name suggests is a temple of Lord Shiva, with about one crore Shivalingas. It is situated at a place called Kammasandra, about 5 km from Kolar Gold Fields (KGF). This place has a collection of number of Shiva Lingas spread over an area of 15 acres. More than 80 lakhs of such Lingas have already been installed here since 1974. Kotilingeshwara has the distinction of having the biggest Shivalinga (108 ft) in the world and accompanying it is a 35 ft tall Basava. The entire project involves the installation of one crore shivalingas of various sizes, hence the name 'Kotilingeshwara'.

I had been to Kotilingeshwara a couple of times, and its been one unique experience. On my first visit, we also went to Bangaru Tirupathi at Guttahalli (about 10 kms from Kotilingeshwara). Then, we went to Avani, and then to Mulbagal. Avani is believed to be the place where Seetha raised Lava and Kusa. The village is quite peaceful, and you will love the roads. On my second visit, we started quite late, and had to return after visiting Koilingeshwara only.

There are no good hotels around on the way, but if you happen to come via Mulbagal, just before the Kolar railway Bridge, you will find Hotel Woody's on the left. Its quite popular, and food is okay.

Route
From Bangalore, proceed to Old Madras Road, Kolar, then take a right to Bangarapet, and then on to Koti Lingeshwara. Then, we went on to Bangaru Tirupathi (about 10 kms from Koti Lingeshwara), then to Mulbagal and back to Bangalore.

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Reference Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotilingeshwara
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avani
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttahalli
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2005/06/25/stories/2005062503540100.htm


Here are some pics that we took on our couple of visits -








Pic of Bangaru Tirupathi Temple


Here are links to some images from Panoramio