NEW DELHI. Over the last few days, a false post about Shivalingas is being shared massively on Facebook. The post spuriously claims that "first time in India's history, lakhs of Shivalingas unexpectedly surfaced in the Shivakashi river of
Karnataka after its water level came down”.
Along with this text, the post carries a number of
Shivalinga
photos (apparently on the banks of a river) to corroborate its claims.
Although the pictures in the post are genuine and true, the claims made on their basis are false.
These photos belong to a place called Sahasralinga, which is located 14 kms from Sirsi city in Karnataka.
Saharalinga is a famous pilgrimage place where grand celebrations take place every year on Mahashivaratri.
It famous for being the location where around a thousand lingas (and not “lakhs”) are carved on rocks in the Shalmala river and on its banks.
These lingas were built under the patronage of Sadashivarayavarma, former king of the Sirsi kingdom.
So, it is certainly not “first time in Indian history” as dishonestly claimed by the misleading Facebook post.
Interestingly, a similar place exists in Cambodia. The place is called Kbal Spean and its meaning is ‘the Head Bridge’. Here, one can find plenty of carved lingas located in the middle of a river, but the place is not sacred, and it is rarely ever visited by anyone other than curious tourists.
Read this story in Hindi here