A Pilgrimage Site—On a River
Sahastralinga, located approximately 14 km from Sirsi Taluk in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India, is a revered pilgrimage site. Situated along the Shalmala River, it is renowned for the presence of a thousand Shivalingas (abstract representations of Lord Shiva in Hindu Shaivism) intricately carved into rocks along the river and its banks (“Sahastra” means 1,000 in Sanskrit).
In this case, “along the riverbanks” also means “in the river itself.” Just take a look at this.
Alongside the more than 1,000 ancient Shivalingas visible on the riverbanks, one can also see carvings of Nandi (the bull, Lord Shiva’s vehicle) on the rocks. It is believed that the Shivalingas and statues were built on the riverbank by King Sadashivarai Varma of the Vijayanagara Empire sometime between 1678 and 1718. However, no one knows for sure.
The best time to see the Shivalingas and statues is between October and March, when water levels in the river are lower. During the monsoon season, most of the lingas are submerged.
Interestingly, a similar site exists in Cambodia called Kbal Spean, which also features numerous lingas carved into the middle of a river. However, unlike Sahastralinga, this location is considered non-sacred and is visited primarily by tourists.
