5 Unique Centuries-Old Lord Shiva Temples Around The World

Maha Shivratri is almost here and the 12 jyotirlingas across the country would be the major attractions among devotees during the festival. But, do you know 13th is also there unfortunately it’s not in our country. Wondering which country has it? Our list of famous Shiva temples outside the India has the answer.

Motishwar Mandir, Muscat

Finding a Hindu temple amid a Muslim-dominated country is nearly impossible. But the old city of Oman has a centuries-old temple of Lord Shiva and that to be with a unique history.

Motishwar Mandir in Muscat is a nearly 400 year’s old temple built by few Gujarati merchants as per history. However, it was not the Indian merchants who established the idol of Shiva. It was already present in the palace of the Sultan of Muscat in the form of Motishwar Mahadev.

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Gujarati merchants came in 1507 to the city and found this idol in the palace of Tamibur bin Faisal (Muscat’s Sultan). Upon the Sultan’s permission merchants shifted the idol to the temple constructed by them near the Al Alam Palace.

The temple is famous among Hindi devotees there and almost all Hindu festivals dedicated to Shiva especially Maha Shivaratri are celebrated with hustle and bustle.

Apart from Lord Shiva, idols of Hanumanji and Shri Adi Motishwar Mahadev are also found in the temple. What’s the most surprising thing about this temple is that water well inside the temple never gets empty even though the country itself faces scarcity of water being a deserted city.

Pashupatinath Temple, Nepal

Shiva is not only the God of Humans; he is lord of animals too and worshipped as Pashupatinath. The incarnation of Mahadev is present in Nepal in 5 different forms as Barun, Uma Maheswara, Ishana, Aghor, and Tatpurusha that usually represent elements of the earth.

The neighboring country of India has one of the beautiful temples dedicated to Pushipatinath at the banks of the Bagmati River which holds immense importance in Nepal. There’s also a story behind its construction. According to mythology, Lord Shiva was fascinated by the beautiful valleys and surroundings so he decided to live here forever in the form of deer.

Wishes do come true here as per the beliefs. Thus, devotees never forget to come to the Pashupatinath temple during their visit to Nepal.

Shiv Sagar Temple, Mauritius

Mauritius is not only famous for its unique area called Chamarel seven colored earth but also for the Shiva Sagar Mandir formed at the background of clear lagoon water and surrounded by mangroves. It lies on two islands, Poste de Flacq, and Goyave de Chine, and was constructed in the late 1970s. But, the Ghunowas family renovated the temple in 2007 and converted it into a major place of worship for Hindu devotees.

And not just the construction and location of this Hindu temple is mesmerizing but the idol of Lord Shiva is the devotee’s attraction. The statue stands 108 feet high and is made completely of bronze.

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Candi Prambanan, Indonesia

This one is the massive worship place for Hindus in Indonesia spread across the 17 km area and holds the status of largest Hindu temple and UNESCO heritage site as well. The temple is the best example of Hindu architecture and was built during the Sanjaya Dynasty in the 9th century.

The temple has several Hindu deities’ major being the Creator, Destroyer, and Preserver of Universe placed in the center of the temple compound. Besides having the idols of Hindu God, the temple’s walls also reflect the stories of Bhagavat Purana and Ramayana.

Mukti Gupteshwar Temple, Australia

Mukti Gupteshwar Mandir of Lord Shiva stands out all the temples across the world. The reason is its unique construction. The temple has a cave that is completely man-made and is the only cave built by a human for Mahadev across the world.

What makes it more unique and must-visit shiva temple for Shiv Bhakt are the following features:

• Man-made 13th Jyotirlinga stands here with the replicas of all 12 Jyotirlingas.

• Temple also has a huge number of lingas representing the several names of Mahadev. Total of (1008 lingas represent the Sahashtra names whereas the other 108 represent his Rudra names.

• The temple compound has around 1128 small mandirs as well

• The temple has a special vault to store the wishes and letters written to God by the devotees. There are 2 million such notes all with ‘ Om Namah Shivaya” written on it are stored inside the room. Besides this, it also has water from 5 major oceans and 81 rivers across the world including major ones of Australia.

• It was constructed on the occasion of Mahashivratri in 1999.

Apart from these, Mukti Gupteshwar also has Lord Ganesha and Ramparivar mandir inside the compound.