About the Mandir
Architect's impression of the Mandir complex before construction
Mukti-Gupteshwar
Mandir is the first and so far the only man-made cave mandir
dedicated to the Lord Shiva, the 13th Jyotirlingam, Mukti-Gupteshwar
Mahadev.
Along with the
Mahadev, there are scale model replicas of 12 other Jyotirlinga,
108 human made lingas represent the Rudra names of the Lord
Shiva and 1008 fannings Lord Shiva representing his Sahastra
namas. Each figuring represents a small mandir of Lord Shiva
and therefore there are total of 1128 small mandirs inside
the Mukti-Gupteshwar mandir which is very unque to its kind.
In the Sanctum
there is a 10 metre deep 'vault' which comprises 2 million
handwritten notes each saying 'Om Namah Shivaya' from devotees
around the world. There is water from 81 rivers including
major rivers from Australia and from five oceans, and eight
precious metals. Good wishes from holy men and other dignitaries
around the world have also been placed in the 'vault'.
Each morning a
Brahmin priest conducts the ritual sustenance of the 13th
Jyotirlingam, 12 replicas of other Jyotirlinga, 108 Rudra
Shivas and 1008 Sahastra nama Lord Shivas.
There are three
other mandirs besides the Mahadev's mandir. These are the
Matha Mandir, Ramparivar Mandir and Lord Ganesh Mandir.
The inner hall of the temple
Some Facts About
Construction of the Mandir
- Construction
began in September 1997.
- The 13th Jyotirlinga
was consecrated on the day of Mahashivratri on 14 February
1999.
- Approximately
1450 square metres of floor area is built underground. The
only structures above ground are the amenities building
and Lord Ganesh’s
mandir which is built in the middle of the Mandir ‘sarovar’
(dam).
- 65,000 cubic
metres of earth was moved to build the subterranean structures.
- Total concrete
used: (a) High-strength concrete (32 Mpa) 860 cubic metres,
and (b) Normal concrete (20 Mpa) 380 cubic metres.
- Ten precast
concrete elliptical arches were laid for the main hall of
Lord Shiva each weighing 18 tons. A 130 ton capacity crane
was required to erect the arches and the operation took
nearly 10 hours.
- 230 tons of
reinforcing steel was used. The total length of the accessway
and driveway is 350 metres.
- When full, the
dam holds 4.5 million litres of water. The dam is 4.0 metres
deep at its centre.
- The dam required
approximately 30,000 cubic metres of earth to build its
embankment. The maximum height of the embankment is 9.0
metres from natural ground.
- 4500 trees and
shrubs have been planted throughout to beautify the site.
- Total cost of
the project to date is approximately $AUD 5.0 million.
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