Did lakhs of ‘Shiva Lingas’ surface in the Shivakashi river bed?
A set of photographs of numerous Shiva Lingas engraved on stones in a river bed is being disseminated across various social media platforms.
Claim:
The photos are being widely shared by netizens with the claim that lakhs of Shiva Lingas were seen in Karnataka’s Shivakashi river as the water level receded.
A user named ‘Prince Raj‘ posted the viral photos on a Facebook group named ‘शिव पुराण‘ and captioned it as –
“#शिव_का_चमत्कार :
कर्नाटक के शिवकाशी नदी में पानी कम होने पर दिखे लाखों शिवलिंग।
हर हर महादेव भोलेनाथ”
Another user named ‘Kailash Raj‘ also posted the viral images with the same caption.
A Twitter user with the handle ‘@AlkaS_11‘ tweeted the viral photos with the same caption –
“अद्भुत 🙏कर्नाटक के शिवकाशी नदी में पानी कम होने पर एक साथ दिखे लाखों शिवलिंग। जय भोलेनाथ“
Translation –
“Phenomenal, Lakhs of Shiva Lingas were spotted in Karnataka’s Shivakashi river as the water receded. All hail Lord Shiva”
अद्भुत 🙏
कर्नाटक के शिवकाशी नदी में पानी कम होने पर एक साथ दिखे लाखों शिवलिंग।
जय भोलेनाथ 🙏
💫#हर_हर_महादेव💫
🙏🚩 pic.twitter.com/fKT7KPbJAB— 🇮🇳 Alka Singh 🇮🇳 (@AlkaS_11) July 29, 2021
🙏🏻शिव जी🙏🏻 की चमत्कार देखो: कर्नाटक के शिवकाशी नदी में पानी कम होने पर लाखों शिवलिंग दिखे!
🙏🏻🌺 हर हर महादेव🌺🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/aYcDVLC6I8
— SHANKAR 🇮🇳 तिलकधारी (@SHANKAR70111283) July 28, 2021
शिव का चमत्कार 🙏🏻
कर्नाटक के शिवकाशी नदी में पानी कम होने पर दिखे लाखों शिवलिंग🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/cdoy9QMxnH— Jagrati Gupta (@JagratiGupta3) July 29, 2021
कर्नाटक के शिवकाशी नदी में पानी कम होने पर दिखे लाखों शिवलिंग।
हर हर महादेव। 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/dncpFJ6cmD— 🇮🇳🇮🇳Poojaa🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@Poojaa444) July 29, 2021
Truth
Although the viral photos are real, the viral claim that lakhs of Shiva Lingas are spotted in the Shivakashi river bed in Karnataka is false and misleading. The photos belong to a place called Sahasralinga.
We took the images and ran a reverse image search on Google and found a news report from The Times of India titled ‘Truth behind emergence of ‘one lakh Shiva Lingas’ in a Karnataka river.’ The news report explicitly mentions that the viral photos belong to Sahasralinga, a place located 14 km from Sirsi city in Karnataka. We also found a news article from the Deccan Herald titled ‘A thousand shrines shine here.’ After going through the entire article we were able to corroborate that the viral images do not belong to the Shivakashi river rather to a Hindu holy shrine named Sahasralinga, situated on the banks of the Shalmala river in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district. The news reports can be accessed here here.
We also searched on Karnataka tourism’s official website and found a brief description about Sahasralinga. The description also confirms that the viral photos do not belong to the Shivakashi river bed. These Shiva lingas were built during the reign of Sadashiva Ray Varma, a former ruler of the Sirsi kingdom.
We also found a few tweets from ‘Karnataka Tourism,’ ‘Incredible India‘ and ‘India In Medan‘ which also corroborated the fact that the viral images belong to Sahasralinga on the banks of the river Shalmala and not Shivakashi (as the viral claim suggests).
With around a 1000 lingas carved on rocks on the banks of the river Shalmala, Sahasralinga is a unique tourist spot that combines faith and fun. Feel at one with nature at this gorgeous locations, as you are engulfed by the tranquility of your surroundings. #NammaKarnataka pic.twitter.com/8kCbr7KxdR
— Karnataka Tourism (@KarnatakaWorld) February 24, 2020
Explore the ancient & mysterious ‘Sahasralinga’- a thousand shiva lingas, a beautiful river, and a world of divinity. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/qlTKizBDC0
— Incredible!ndia (@incredibleindia) October 23, 2016
#ExploreIndia Sahasralinga in #Sirsi #Uttarakannada is a place where one can find 1000 shivalingas carved on rocks located in course of Shalmala river. As per historical data, these shivalingas were carved in 17th century on orders of Sadashiva Ray Varma, king of that time. pic.twitter.com/oEMq8DGyRo
— India In Medan (@indiainmedan) September 29, 2020
Interestingly, we also searched on Google Maps, and the search results also helped us to verify that the viral images belong to Sahasralinga. Therefore, we conclude that the viral images are real but the viral claim is false and misleading.
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