Murudeshwar Temple - 130 feet Shiva Statue

Located in a coastal town of Murdeshwar, this Murudeshwar Temple is very famous for its 130 feet Shiva statue. It is the second tallest Shiva statue in the world next to the one in Nepal. The legend of this shrine goes back to the great epic Ramayana, which is exactly the same to that of Gokarna Mahabaleshwar. Ravana was a demon king of Sri Lanka, who was equally a great devotee of Lord Shiva. To remain immortal, Ravana learnt through his mother that he needed to have ‘Atma Linga’ (one form of Lord Shiva) to keep with him. He did severe penance in Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva and attained the boon with 2 conditions. Though he is a demon of all powers, he needs to return back to Sri Lanka only by walking which is the first condition. The second is, he should not put it down on the ground. If so, it would get permanently embedded where it is dropped.

It is a universal fact that those who are born should have to die one day. If Ravana became immortal, he could do anything against the people and Gods too. So, Lord Shiva needed the help from Lord Vishnu. When Ravana was returning back to Lanka, it was the evening time he reached Gokarna. Realizing that it was time for his evening prayers (Sandhyavandana), Lord Ganesh was instructed by Vishnu to be disguised as a small boy at that place. Looking at his divinity, Ravana gave that Linga to him asking him to keep it for a while before his return. Wasting no time, that boy placed the Linga on that ground saving the world from Ravana. All the efforts of Ravana to uproot it failed. Understanding the play by the Gods, Ravana could contain his anger showing all his strengths lifting that Linga. But it all went in vain.

Expressing his distress and emotions, he threw away the cloth which he covered with that Linga, fell here. Earliest records of the temple says that it was built in the 10th century by Chola kings. The main tower of the temple is 20 tier of 235 feet high, which is the second tallest temple tower in the world, next to the temple tower of Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu. It is built in a small hillock, surrounded by the Arabian sea on three sides. Two life-size concrete elephants flank the steps leading up to the temple. There is a depiction of Ravana giving the Atma Linga to Lord Ganesha. Except the principle sanctum, which still holds the same old flavour, the whole temple is transformed in the contemporary style. There is a facility for the visitors to have a look at this Shiva statue from the temple tower.