ஆஸ்திரேலியா மிண்டோ சிவலிங்க தரிசனத்துக்கு உலகெங்குமிருந்தும் பக்தர்கள் வருகை

ஆஸ்திரேலியா மிண்டோ சிவலிங்க தரிசனத்துக்கு உலகெங்குமிருந்தும் பக்தர்கள் வருகை

Hindus meet to pray
By Michelle Taverniti

Sacred festival: Priest Acharya Lal Bhadur Mishra (left) praying to Mahashivratri for Mr and Mrs Satyanand. Picture: Luke Fuda

HINDUS from all over the world made the trek to Minto last Thursday to attend one of the religion's most sacred festivals.
The Mahashivratri festival is a day of devotion to the Hindu god Shiva where followers fast for 24 hours and make offerings of flowers, fruit and milk. They came for individual prayers and a small blessing at the Mukti-Gupteshwar temple.

The Minto temple houses a naturally-formed stone icon which is believed to be hundreds of thousands of years old and

one of only 13 such icons in the world.


Known as a Jyotirlingam, the icon is the only one outside India. Mandir Society president Prem Misra, who built and designed the temple, said the festival comes from the Hindu belief "to break the cycle of reincarnation so we aren't born again".

The temple is underground as scriptures forbid the building of shrines above the ground.

"It is the only man-made cave shrine in the world," Mr Misra said. "The cave signifies our inner self our intellect, our consciousness."

The late Crown Prince of Nepal came to visit the shrine in 2000.