Kempfort Shiva Temple, Bangalore

Construction of the 65-feet-tall Lord Shiva idol and the temple started in 1994. On February 26, 1995, on the auspicious day of Maha Shivaratri, the Shiva Temple was inaugurated. Sri Shankaracharya of Shringeri (who is believed to be the incarnation of Lord Shiva himself) dedicated the Shiv Mandir to the public.

Since then the Shiva Temple has become a revered spiritual destination. People come here with the belief that their problems will be solved after touching the Shiva idol here. And their problems do disappear.

Year after year, with Lord Shiva’s blessings, the temple has been transformed into a destination of faith where prayers are answered. Today the temple attracts millions of devotees not only from India but all around the world.

Mahabaleshwar Temple at Gokarana

According to the legend, the Atmalinga was perforce placed at Gokarna, in the temple precincts where it is presently deified, byRavana, the demon King of Lanka of epic Ramayana fame when he carried it from Mount Kailash in the Himalayas. Pilgrims take a holy dip in the Arabian Sea before visiting the temple for worship.^[2][3][4] It is one of the seven sacred Muktikshetras or Mukthistala (place of salvation) in India where many Hindus of Karnataka perform obsequies (death rites) for their departed; six other Muktistalas in Karnataka are: Udupi, Kollur, Subrahmanya, Kumbasi, Kodeshvara and Sankaranarayana

The hoary legend of the temple as narrated links Ravana of Ramayana fame, the demon king of Lanka, not only to the Shiva Linga deified in the Mahabaleshwar Temple but also to the Bhadra Kali temple here. The legend also provides the reasoning for the naming of the Gokarna town.^[4]

Ravana's mother, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva, was worshipping a Shiva Linga to bring prosperity to her son. Indra, the Lord of Heaven, who was jealous of this worship, stole the Shiva Linga and threw it away into the Sea. The distraught mother of Ravana went on a hunger strike as her devotional worship of Shiva was disrupted. Ravana then promised his mother that he would go to Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva, and bring the main Atmalinga itself for her worship. Ravana then performed severe penance at Mount Kailash to please Lord Shiva and also sang, in his melodious voice, praises of Shiva (Shiva Tandava Stotram). He even chopped his own head, and made a harp with threads drawn from his skin and intestine. Shiva pleased with all this devotional worship agreed to bestow boons to Ravana. Ravana, pleased with the promise of Shiva, asked for the Atmalinga and also a wife for himself, as pretty as Uma (mother of creation), Shiva's wife. Shiva then took out the Atma Linga, brightly shining like the Sun, from his own heart and gave it to Ravana with strict instructions that it should not be placed on ground till it was deified at a final destination. As regards the second request for a beautiful wife, Shiva offered his own wife to Ravana, as in his view there was no other woman more beautiful than Uma, his wife.^[8]

Ravana, blinded by his infatuation for Uma, accepted her and carried her off on his shoulder along with the Atmalinga. He went south towards his kingdom. This created an alarm and fear among the various gods in heaven. Ganesha, Skanda (warrior god) and Virabhadra, sons of Shiva and Parvati were perturbed. Nandi, the bull was equally surprised by this development. All of them appealed to Shiva for redress from this unwarranted situation. Shiva told them not worry and promised that Lord Vishnu would redeem the situation.

Uma, who was ordered by Shiva to go with Ravana, then appealed to Lord Vishnu for help. Vishnu agreed and he met Ravana at Gokarna, disguised as an aged, frail looking Brahmin. The Brahmin asked Ravana as to how he was carrying such a lovely woman on his shoulders. Ravana, in his enthusiasm, explained that Shiva of Kailash himself had given her to him. Pleased with the Brahmin's words of praise, Ravana brought her down to have a look at her charming face. This was his undoing as at that moment, Vishnu played a trick and made Uma look haggard, aged and repulsive. The Brahmin then gave a derisive laugh and made a humiliating remark of Ravana's choice of the lady. Thus humiliated, Ravana deserted Uma and went back to Kailash to complain and plead with Shiva. Vishnu then asked Uma to settle down at Gokarna. Now, she is worshipped in Gokarna, as Mother Bhadrakali.^[9]

Then Vishnu created an illusion of a charming girl in front of Ravana and assured him that this girl would be born as Mandodari, daughter of Mayasura and marry him. Mollified by this promise, Ravana returned carrying the Atmalinga. On the way, he met Ganesha in the garb of a cowherd (by the request of lord indra) at the same location where he had deserted Uma. At that moment Ravana wanted urgently to attend the call of nature and he, therefore, requested Ganesha to hold the Atmalinga in his hand till he returned after ablutions.^[11] There is another version to the legend at this point. It is said that Ravana, being a Brahmin wanted to offer his evening religious prayers, Sandhyavandanam, and he, therefore, requested Ganesha, who appeared before him as a Brahmin boy, to hold on to the Atmalinga till he returned; with strict instructions to Ganesha not to place it on the ground under any circumstance.^[6]

However, Ravana could not come within the specified time. Ganesha called out thrice rapidly for Ravana. Even before Ravana could return, Ganesha placed the Atmalinga on the ground, tricked Ravana and vanished from the scene with his cows. Ravana then chased the only cow, which was going underground. However, he managed to get hold of the cow's ear only, as the rest of cow's body had disappeared below ground. It is this ear now seen in a petrified form, which has given the name 'Gokarna' to the place, meaning "Cow's ear." (in Sanskrit 'Gow' means "cow" and 'karna' means "ear").^[6][10][11] Then, Ravana tried hard to lift the Shiv Linga but failed as it was firmly fixed. Ravana had even fainted; thereafter he gave the name Mahabaleshwar (meaning all-powerful) to the Atmalinga.^[10] Thus, according to the legend narrated, the place now boasts of three divine entities namely: Gokarna, the cow's ear; the Atmalinga or Shiva Linga that is deified in the Mahabaleshwar Temple; and the Goddess Bhadrakali, which are all now divine places of worship integral to Gokarna

Murudeshwara Temple, Karnataka

The Hindu gods attained immortality and invincibility by worshiping a divine Lingam called the Atma-Linga. The Lanka KingRavana wanted to attain immortality by obtaining the Atma-Linga (Soul of Shiva). Since the Atma-Linga belonged to Lord Shiva, Ravana worshipped Shiva with devotion. Pleased by his prayers, Lord Shiva appeared before him and asked him what he wanted. By this time Narada had asked Lord Vishnu to change Ravana's mind. As a result of this plot, Ravana asks for Goddess Parvati, and Lord Shiva offers her to him. On his way back to Lanka Narada tells Ravana that Lord had not given him the real Parvathi and that the real Parvathi was in Pathala. So Ravana frees his companion,goes to Pathala and marries a king's daughter, assuming her to be the real Parvathi. He then returns to Lanka, where his mother asks him for the Linga. Ravana then comes to know of the tricks played on him by Lord Vishnu. He therefore prays to Lord Shiva again, begging for his forgiveness. Lord Shiva appears and this time, Ravana requests the AtmaLinga as his boon. Lord Shiva agrees to give him the boon with the condition that it should never be placed on the ground. If the AtmaLinga was ever placed on the ground, all the powers would return to Lord Shiva again. Having obtained his boon, Ravana started back on his journey to Lanka.

Sage Narada, who came to know of this incident, realised that with the AtmaLinga, Ravana may obtain immortality and create havoc on earth. He approached the Lord Ganesh and requested him to prevent theAtmaLinga from reaching Lanka. Lord Ganesh knew that Ravana was a very devoted person who used to perform prayer ritual in the evening every day without fail. He decided to make use of this fact and came up with a plan to confiscate the AtmaLinga from Ravana.

As Ravana was nearing Gokarna, Lord Vishnu blotted out the sun to give the appearance of dusk. Ravana now had to perform his evening rituals but was worried because with the AtmaLinga in his hands, he would not be able to do his rituals. At this time, Lord Ganesh in the disguise of a Brahmin boy accosted him. Ravana requested him to hold the AtmaLinga until he performed his rituals, and asked him not to place it on the ground. Ganesh struck a deal with him saying that he would call Ravana thrice, and if Ravana did not return within that time, he would place the AtmaLinga on the ground.

As predicted, before Ravana could return after completing his rituals, Ganesh had already placed the AtmaLinga on the ground. Vishnu then removed his illusion and it was daylight again. Ravana, realising that he had been tricked, tried to uproot and destroy it. Due to the force exerted by Ravana, some pieces were scattered. One such piece from the head of the linga is said to have fallen in present day Surathkal. The famous Sadashiva temple is said to be built around that piece of linga. Then he decided to destroy the covering of the AtmaLinga, and threw the case covering it to a place called Sajjeshwara, 23 miles away. Then he threw the lid of the case to a place called Guneshwara (now Gunavanthe) and Dhareshwara, 10–12 miles away. Finally, he threw the cloth covering the AtmaLinga to a place called Mrideshwara in Kanduka-Giri (Kanduka Hill). Mrideshwara has been renamed to Murudeshwar. There is a depiction of this story below the Shiva idol in the form of a cave

Veera Narayana Temple Belavadi

The Veera Narayana temple is located in Belavadi, a village in the Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka state, India. The temple was built during the rule of the Hoysala Empire. Known to legend as Ekachakranagara, Belavadi is said to be the place mentioned in Mahabharatha where Pandava prince Bheema killed the demon Bakasura and protected the village and its people. Belavadi is 29 km southeast of Chikmagalur town on the Chikmagalur-Javagal highway. It is a short distance from the famous temple towns of Belur and Halebidu, and a visit to this town is a rewarding experience

Virupaksha Shiva temple, Hampi

Virupaksha Temple is located in Hampi  350 km from Bangalore, in the state ofKarnataka in southern India. It is part of the Group of Monuments at Hampi, designated aUNESCO World Heritage Site. Virupaksha is a form of Shiva and has other temples dedicated to him, notably at the Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, another World Heritage Site.Hampi sits on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the ruins of the ancient city ofVijayanagar, capital of the Vijayanagara empire. Virupaksha Temple is the main center of pilgrimage at Hampi and has been considered the most sacred sanctuary over the centuries.

It is fully intact among the surrounding ruins and is still used in worship. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, known here as Virupaksha, as the consort of the local goddess Pampa who is associated with the Tungabhadra River. There is also a powerful Virupakshini amma temple (mother goddess) in a village called Nalagamapalle, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, approximately 100 km from Tirupati.

The famous miracle of Sri Sathya Sai Baba's childhood where Sai Baba was seen inside the sanctum sanctorum whilst He was sitting outside the temple also happened at the Virupaksha temple

Kukke Subramanya Swamy temple

According to one Mythology, after killing the demon rulers, Tharaka, Shurapadmasura and their followers in a war, Lord Shanmuka reached Kumara parvatha with his brother Ganesh and others. He was received by Indra and his followers. Indra being very happy prayed Lord Kumara swamy to accept and marry his daughter Devasena for which the Lord readily agreed. The divine marriage took place on Margashira shudha shashti at Kumara parvatha. Gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and many other deities assembled for the marriage and coronation ceremony of Shanmukha for which waters of several holy rivers were brought. With these waters of Mahabhisheka fell down to form a river which was later known by the popular name Kumaradhara.

The great Shiva Bhakta and Serpent king Vasuki was performing tapas for years in the Biladwara caves of Kukke Subrahmanya to avoid the attack of Garuda. Following Lord Shiva`s assurance Shanmuka gave darshan to Vasuki and blessed him that he would stay with his parama bhakta in this place forever. Hence the poojas offered to Vasuki or Nagaraja are nothing but the poojas to Lord Subrahmanya.Subramanya used to be called as Kukke Pattana in the past. In the 'Shankara Vijaya' Anandagiri observes that Sri Shankaracharya camped here for a few days during his religious expedition (Digvijaya). Shankaracharya referred to this place as 'Bhaje Kukke Lingam' in his 'Subrahmanya Bhujangaprayata Stotram'.Sri Subrahmanya kshetra has been brilliantly described in the 'Thirthakshetra Mahimanipurana' chapter of the Sahyadrikhanda comprised in the Sanatkumara Samhita of Skanda Purana.

This kshetra is situated in the banks of the river 'Dhara' which originates in the Kumara mountain and proceeds to the western sea.

Theru Malleswara swamy temple

The complex is also known as dakshina Kashi (Benaras in south) since the presiding deity is facing towards south. The Teru utsav (car festival) came in to practice with stone wheels of a theru were washed ashore of river Vedavathi flowing beside, some four centuries ago, as such the deity came to be known as Theru Malleswara, the devotees believe. The other deities Chandramouleswara and UmaMaheswara are also equally revered by devotees.The temple must have been built in the beginning of 10th century by Cholas. We can see the temple is clearly the architecture of chola empire.

While one Kenchanna nayaka was ruling Hiriyur province, Rangappa nayaka ruler of Sira attacks Hiriyur in 1637-38. Then Kenchanna nayaka seeks help from Kasturi Rangappa nayaka ruler of Chitradurga, by sending ear studs of his wife through secret agents. The attacker fails to withstand the fury of two armies and runs away from the war field. Then Kasturi Rangappa nayaka accompanied by Kenchanna nayaka offers ‘arathi’ to Theru Malleswara swamy with the ear studs sent by the latter. In later years the Hiriyur province was annexed to Chitradurga province by its palegars and in 1666-67, Medakari nayaka II builds gopuram of Theru Malleswara swamy temple.

The restoration of beautiful temple complex of Sri Theru Malleswara swamy temple was taken up by the trust of Sri kshetra Dharmastala in right earnestness on an understanding entered in to with a local committee. The trust has restored the sanctum-sanctoram of the deity and stopped further works. But further works are halted due to non payment of some 7 lakhs it is learn due to non payment of some 7 lakhs it is learnt. The members of the committee must respond immediately for resumption of restoration works, many devotees honestly opine