S3/E4: The Two Shivalingas — Rama, Jatayu and Hanuman
Why does this hilltop temple have two Shivalingas instead of one? The tradition has a precise answer — and it's preserved not in a book, but in the order you're expected to worship.
In the last episode, we reached the summit of Jatinga-Rameshwara to find two temple doors locked, with only a glimpse of one linga visible through the gap. This episode is that story in full — and it's one of the most vivid pieces of Nambikke we've recorded in this series.
This is Episode 4 of Series 3 — The Two Shivalingas.
The Story
We later recorded a conversation with an ASI guide who walked us through the full account, passed down at this site for generations. After his fight with Ravana, Jatayu had fallen — but he was still alive when Rama found him. Wounded and dying, Jatayu told Rama which direction Ravana's chariot had gone, carrying Sita away. It was, in effect, the first real lead Rama had.
Rama asked Jatayu what he could do for him in return. Jatayu's request was simple: install a Shivalinga, here, at this place.
Hanuman was sent to Kasi to bring back a proper linga. But Kasi was far, and Jatayu was fading fast — there wasn't time to wait. So Rama installed a stone himself, by hand, as an emergency Shivalinga, right where Jatayu lay.
When Hanuman returned from Kasi, the second linga — the one he'd carried all that way — was installed beside the first.
That's why there are two. And it's why, to this day, the pooja sequence visits both outer lingas first, in order, before anyone is permitted into the main temple — the ritual itself preserves the sequence of what happened, carried forward not as a written record but as a practice repeated by every archakka who has ever climbed this hill. Past the two outer lingas, inside the main temple, are said to be 101 Jyotirlingas — a detail that deserves its own investigation another time.
One more thing happened on that visit worth recording. At the summit, we noticed a few people carrying cooking essentials — rice and other supplies — up the hill. Cooked food is served here daily. Walking down afterward (far easier than the climb up), we met the archakka on his way up, making the same steep climb he makes most days, simply to perform the pooja.
There are no houses, no resident population, anywhere near the base of this hill. We were told this was once a thriving town called Isanpura, during Ashoka's time — but no ruins, no foundations, nothing visible remains of it today. And yet the devotion continues: someone climbs, someone cooks, someone worships, day after day, generation after generation, for a town that by every visible sign no longer exists. We don't have an answer for that yet. It's a thread this series picks back up later.
Key Insights
Nambikke: This episode is almost entirely oral tradition — and it's unusually precise. The story doesn't just explain why there are two lingas; it explains the exact sequence of who installed which one and why, and that sequence is re-enacted in the worship order every single time someone performs pooja here. The ritual is, in effect, a non-written record.
Lipi — or the lack of it: We want to be honest here: the lingas themselves carry no inscription, no date, nothing that independently verifies the story attached to them. This is tradition standing on its own, not corroborated by physical evidence the way Episode 3's ASI board corroborated the Jatayu connection. We're not asking you to take it as proven history — only as a remarkably well-preserved piece of local memory.
The living question: Food is still carried up. An archakka still climbs, regularly, for a town with no visible trace of having existed. Why does devotion this demanding persist with nobody living nearby to sustain it? That question doesn't get answered in this episode — but it's central to where this series goes next.
Travel Information
Location: The summit of Jatinga-Rameshwara hill, near Chitradurga, Karnataka (see Episode 3 for the full approach).
Witnessing the daily ritual: If you'd like to see the pooja or the food being carried up, it's worth asking locally about timing before you climb — the archakka's schedule isn't fixed to a strict hour, and we arrived without knowing it ourselves.
The descent: Considerably easier than the climb up, though still steep in sections — good footwear still matters.
What we didn't do: The Jatayu hillock itself, visible from the summit, is a separate undertaking — guides told us it requires the better part of a full day. We skipped it on this visit; it remains on our list for a future trip.
Nearby sites: Brahmagiri (Episode 1) and Siddapura (Episode 2) complete this cluster.
Watch the Field Visit
See the two lingas, the temple doors, and the climb down past the archakka:
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- ▶️ YouTube — TimeLensPodcast Series 3 playlist
- 🎵 TikTok @timelenspodcast
- 👥 Facebook @timelenspodcast
Listen to the Full Episode
The full investigation — including the ASI guide's own recorded account of the Jatayu story — is on all podcast platforms:
- 🎧 Spotify — S3/E4 The Two Shivalingas
- 🎧 Apple Podcasts — S3/E4 The Two Shivalingas
- 🎧 Amazon Music — TimeLensPodcast
Series 3 — Ashokan Minor Rock Edicts near Chitradurga
- S3/E1 — Brahmagiri: An Emperor's Message in the Middle of Nowhere
- S3/E2 — Siddapura: Deeper Into Nowhere
- S3/E3 — Jatinga-Rameshwara: The Climb and The Revelation
- S3/E4 — The Two Shivalingas: Rama, Jatayu and Hanuman ← you are here
- S3/E5 — Rama's Two Trails — Rama's Seal on a Rock?
- S3/E6 — The Marketplace on the Hill
- S3/E7 — The Brahmagiri Revelation
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