Kotilingeshwara
Date: 30-Nov-2014
This weekend, my parents were at our home. Unfortunately, there are very few one-day tourist destinations in Bangalore to take our relatives. Nandi Hills, Dodda Alada Mara, Koti Lingeshwara are the three important places among them. Thilak had taken my in-laws to all these three places. My parents are yet to visit Nandi Hills and Kotilingeshwara. We had to leave early in the morning to go to Nandi Hills which we could not do this time as we came home late yesterday night.
So, the only choice left for us was, Kotilingeshwara. Kotilingeshwara is in Kolar district and is around 100 km from our home. My parents were half interested to go to Koti Lingeshwara because of the distance. But, we forced them to join us because we were sure that they would love the place.
After lunch, we started from home at 2 PM. Luckily, the weather was pleasant and also the traffic was less. We took the KR Puram > Hoskote route to reach Kolar. It took very less time to reach Kolar as the National Highway through Hoskote was too good. Near Kolar, we could see huge rocky mountains on both sides of the road. My father was amused to see such large rock boulders. He was enjoying the journey which made us feel very happy. After we reached Kolar, the road was not that great in Bangarupet. It was very narrow and there were many vehicles commuting in that road. It took us around half an hour to cross the Bangarupet town. After Bangarupet, the destination was not that far and we reached the place at around 4.30 PM. We had assumed that it might take us 2 hrs to reach the place, but it took us 2.5 hrs.
Once we entered the Koti Lingeshwara temple premises, we could see Shiva Lingas everywhere. Temple authorities say that there are 90 lakhs shiva lingas in the temple and the plan is to install 1 crore Lingas. This is why the place is called Kotilingeshwara. My parents were shocked to see such large number of Shiva Lingas placed in the temple. The place was very calm and quiet. It was not very crowded. There were many small temples of various deities inside the premises. We went inside few temples. The large number of Shiva Lingas and the huge Shiva Linga measuring 108 ft (33 m) were the main attraction of this place. This huge Shivalinga is the tallest of its kind in the world. There is also a 35 ft tall Basava infront of this Shiva Linga. The place was looking amazing in the beautiful evening. We spent some time taking photos and exploring the place. My parents were highly impressed by the temple. Looking at them, we also felt very happy for bringing them to this place.
It was becoming dark, so we decided to leave from the temple at around 6 PM. On the way back, we had coffee and snacks at Kamat Yatrinivas hotel which was very delicious. We took the same route to reach KR Puram and then took the outer ring road to reach our home. Since the traffic was less, we could reach home at 9 PM.
The large number of Shiva Lingas, the 108 ft tall Shiva Linga, and the huge Basava made this place a beautiful tourist destination. This calm and quiet temple is definitely a must visit destination.
- Route Travelled: Onward: BTM Layout > Dommaluru > Tin Factory > KR Puram > Hoskote > Kolar > Bangarupete > Koti Lingeshwara
Return: Koti Lingeshwara > Bangarupete > Kolar > Hoskote > KR Puram > Marathalli > Silk Board > BTM Layout - Total distance (To & Fro): 218 km
- Mileage (Car): 22 km/l
- Fuel expense: 694 Rs
- Total expense: 1288 Rs
- Photos: Koti Lingeshwara Photos
Route Map: