History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Badavi Linga Temple, Hampi, Karnataka, India
The Badavilinga temple, located near Narsimha temple in heart of Hampi, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Karnataka India is solely dedicated to Lord Shiva. The Badavilinga temple has the largest monolithic Shiva Linga in Hampi with 3 meter height. This Shiv Linga is placed in center of temple campus and surrounded by water. Temple does not have the ceiling thus sunlight enters full day on the Shivlinga. The Shiva Linga made up from black stone and it has three eye mark drawn on it in line carving and a big mustache lining. The three eye mark depicts the three eyes of Lord Shiva. It is said that during Vijayanagar Empire, in the 15th century this temple was constructed by a fifteen year old girl with her own expenses. The temple was named after it where Badva means poor and Linga means Shiva. The richness to build the temple showed how much would be the richness of the whole Vijayanagara Empire. The Lingam is made up of a single stone. The height of the Lingam is 3 meter long. The gopuram of the temple is being damaged so no grand worship of the Lingam takes place.
According to devotees, the base of the Shiva Lingam is submerged in water as it depicts the arrival of the holy river Ganges on earth and its flow is controlled by Lord Shiva. According to the Hindu mythology when the river Gangs was brought to earth from heaven the force of the flow was so high that it could split the earth into two parts; in order to control the flow, Lord Shiva allowed the flow of ganga from his matted hair.
There lies a religious significance where it is said that if you tossed a coin and the coin lands over the lingam your desires are fulfilled. The temple was built by a poor girl. Here the devotees come to worship in terms of the eradication of poverty from their life and shower them with health, wealth and prosperity. The entrance of the temple is from the east side so the first sun rays flood the Lingam with Light.
The Shiva Linga has a large circular shaped pedestal, known as the yone pitha of the Shiva Linga. This circular pedestal draws into an outlet, also known as pranala. The pedestal of the Shiva Linga stands on a bed of water as this shrine remains in water as self-emerge water channel flows through it around the year.
Due to Islamic invasion, worshipped at this temple had stopped for over 500 years. Worship at Badavi linga temple had started back in 1980. Along with history and significance of temple, interesting part is worshiped and service at this temple by priest Shir Krishna Bhat. He was appointed as the priest of the Badavi Linga temple by the Anegundi royal family. Sri Krishna Bhat came to the temple every day for the last 40 years to attend his duties. Probably you have seen lot of picture of temple and priest on social media. Bhat was often seen climbing the 3-metre long Shivalinga and clearing the flowers offered to the deity the previous day as there is no way to worship the Shivalinga, without stepping upon it. The temple is eternally waterlogged and does not have a scaffold or ladder. Thus 90 years old Sri Krishan Bhat had to cling onto the Shivalinga base to apply vibhooti on it. On 25th April 2021, Shri Krishna Bhat left for the heavenly abode at age of around 90 years. Krishna Bhat’s duties are now being carried out by his son, Raghava.
How to Reach Badavi Linga Temple, Hampi, The UNESCO World Heritage Site, Karnataka, India
Badavi Linga Temple is one of the key attraction of Hampi and located near Narshimha temple. As Hampi is major tourist destination of Karnataka and UNESCO world heritage site, it is easily reachable via road, rail and air network. Nearest railway station from Hampi is at 13 km in Hospet from where you can get train to all major station of India. From Hospet, you can get private vehicle to reach Hampi. You can get government and private vehicle from nearby cities to reach here by road. You can reach here via air connectivity easily as there are couple airport near Hampi. Vidyanagar at 30 Km, Bellary airport at 60, Hubli at 143 km.
