Audio launch-la thalaivar oru kutti katha solli irukalam. But Ok ya, I will tell you ...
The story of Atma Lingaa - Murudeshwar Temple, Karnataka
Ravana prayed to Lord Shiva to obtain 'Atma Lingaa' and attain the power of immortality and invincibility. Scared of getting granted of such a power, as Shiva is very generous with his devotees, Naradha played a trick with the help of Vishnu on Ravana, that when Shiva appeared before him with Parvathi, Ravana, immersed in the beauty of Parvathi, asked Shiva for Parvathi (in the sense of a look-alike) instead of Atma Lingaa. Shiva Granted him his wish which leads Ravana to the fire pits at the core of the earth (Pathalam) and get married to Parvathi, the daughter of the King.
When he returns to Lanka, he realises that he was cheated, a victim of a Mind Trick. So, he pledges to gain the attention of Shiva once again. But this time his prayers were not heard by Shiva, so he started commiting self-scarifice by cutting one by one his body parts, starting with his hands. When he finally chops of his head, Shiva appears overwhelmed by Ravana's devotion, restores him completely and offers him the Atma Lingaa he seeked, under one Condition - If the Lingaa is grounded, it would loose it power, that is, the powers will return back to Shiva Himself.
Gods above become very anxious over the power Ravana would get. This time their representative, Naradha, seeks the help of Ganasha. Ganesha master minds the plan to ground the Lingaa and approches Ravana as a Pligrim Child. He accompanies Ravana on their journey back to Lanka, and at the same time Vishnu tricks by hiding the sun in such way that it seems to be dusk. Dusk, the time for Ravana to do his evening prayers. So, Ganesha offers him his help by holding the Lingaa for Ravana while he is doing his ritual. Astonished when Ravana asks him not to put it on the ground, Ganesha, says to him that he cannot hold the Lingaa for long, but he can until the timely call of 3 times, calling out for Ravana to take it back. Eventually, Ravana reacts quite late, 3 calls end, and Ganesh places the Lingaa on the ground.
Angry, when Ravana was about to strike, Vishnu removes the fake dusk, and its then Ravana realises that he been tricked for the second time. Fierce, he breaks the Lingaa into pieces which gets scatered all around a radius of 20 to 30 miles - where temples have been erected around these pieces of Atma Lingaa.
The cloth covering the Atma Lingaa is found in Murudeshwar Temple. Don't forget to visit its caves.
Until next time, with another Lingaa story, this is yours truly signing off.