World’s Tallest Shiva Lingam![]()
With a number of beautiful and ancient temples in Kerala, it is not wrong to call Kerala ‘God’s own country’. Kerala offers a great number of temples, hill stations, beaches, sanctuaries and other attractions to its visitors to make it flooded with tourists throughout the year. Kerala is also a land of temples, in which most of them are architectural beauties and engineering marvels to be explored. A lot of popular temples in India are located in Kerala. Among them, Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram is a notable one in Kerala, which is also the wealthiest and mysterious Hindu temple in the world. In this list again, Kerala has become the home of the World’s Tallest Shiva Linga.
Recently, the Shiva Lingam of Chenkal Maheswaram Sri Sivaparvathi Temple in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, measuring a record height of 111.2 feet, has made an entry into the India Book of Records for being the tallest Shiva Lingam in the world. Previously, the 108-feet-high Shiva lingam of Kotilingeshwara Temple in Karnataka was the tallest in the country.
The construction of Shiva Linga began in 2012, which has a height equivalent to that of a 10-story building that took 6 years to complete. Not just its height, but its unique cylindrical structure and the remarkable surprises concealed inside it are a wonder to gaze at.
Water, sand and soil from various holy places like Kashi, Gangotri, Rishikesh, Rameswaram, Danushkodi, Badrinath, Gomukh, and Kailash were also mixed with the construction materials. Hence, the Shiva Lingam of Chenkal Maheswaram Sri Sivaparvathi Temple is said to be a divine structure.
The structure has 8 floors with six of them representing the six chakras or energy centres in the human body, which house 6 meditation halls for devotees, pilgrims, and tourists to meditate on respective chakras. 108 Shiva lingams are consecrated on the first floor of the structure, where the devotees can offer ‘Abhishekam‘.
Devotees can enter the Maha Shivling. Inside this Shivaling, one can experience the cosmic effect of the Shivling and also undergo meditation to enhance the power of the body chakras. This magnificent construction has been recently adjudged by the India Book of Records and the Asia Book of Records as the tallest Sivaling so far. Inside this Shivling, there are 8 floors. Each floor inside this Maha Shivling is dedicated to meditation at the Shadadharas or energy centres in the human body for rejuvenation. The floors reflect the ‘vibgyor’ colours of each chakra, namely Muladhara (red), Swadhishtana (orange), Manipura (yellow), Anahatha (green), Vishuddha (blue), Ajna (indigo) and finally Sahasrara (violet).
Just after entering this Maha Shivling, each devotee is allowed to worship the installed Shiva Ling by doing Abhishekam. This is based on the fact that “one should worship his own god”. Anyone entering the Maha Shivling chanting “Panchak Panchakshari Mantra” will attain self-realisation or Aham Brahmasmi” at the Sannidhi of Shiva-Sakthi Swaroop at Kailash, which is the top-level inside this Shivling. This is a unique structure in the country for a spiritual experience.
The pathway from the base to the top of the Shiva Lingam is constructed in such a way that it symbolises the seven hills of the Himalayas and is adorned with captivating murals and statues of meditating monks in a cave-like environment that fascinates every visitor.
At the topmost floor, one can witness the ultimate destination, ‘Kailasam’, (the replica of the Himalayan abode of Lord Shiva and Parvathi) with snow-clad idols of Lord Shiva and Parvathi consecrated under a lotus of a thousand petals
The devotees can worship the 12 Jyothirlingams of Lord Shiva and the 32 forms of Lord Ganesha at the Chenkal Maheswaram Sri Sivaparvathi Temple, which makes it noble and only one of its kind in the world.
Kerala is one of the best places for people who are attracted to spiritualism. You can get the real meaning of spiritualism by visiting the famous temples in Kerala. Maheswaram Sri Sivaparvathi Temple is located at Maheswaram, 26 km away from Thiruvananthapuram city, the capital of Kerala, South India.
