The Unbelievable Tale of the Shivalinga: A Disney-Like Story of Faith and Unexpected Gifts

The story of this Shivalinga is as unbelievable as a Disney movie. I’ve had a religious upbringing as a south Indian Brahmin, but I am not overtly ritualistic. My prayer practice is now at its sweet 17 and evolving…

One Mr. A owed money to one Mr. B. Instead of the money, they offered this lingam—whose antecedents I know nothing about. Now Mr. B gave this to me for safekeeping until they could use it for personal sadhana. So this promptly went to the attic and not the puja room!!!

Eighteen months later, my veda teacher, Challakere Srinivasan, on a whim during Karthika Maasa, said, “Why don’t we do Rudrabhisheka?” In the spirit of going with the flow, I said yes, and this was brought down in October 2020. Not to mention, I was battling with anxiety and fear of Covid with 2 kids and me being single mom, I felt this could be a good way to ground myself.

I personally believe Rudram is the rock star of Vedic chants—it has a headbanging rhythm, and I’ve always wanted to learn it. So it was decided that Mr. Rudra would stay in the puja room, and I was to chant Rudram—with a thousand mistakes, haha—for a few days. Then it became 48 days… same time, 6:40-6:42 am… then why not 75 days!! Then 100!! And 365 days !!  and finally,  I completed 500 days of unbroken chanting at the same time!!!

While I was at it, I lit the lamps, decided to wipe the room every day, and slowly started doing rangoli following @ramaavenugopalan—everything I never dreamt of myself doing in the puja room, I found myself doing. There was no intention set, no prayers to beseech… just handling Rudra as a test of my discipline.

And you know, the power of discipline is incredible—it opens doors to unknown paths and explorations. What began as a simple commitment unfolded into a journey of self-discovery and new practices. The rigor of daily chanting not only strengthened my resolve but also led me to embrace aspects of devotion I hadn’t considered before. It taught me the most important thing, that I can train my mind to develop habits that is helpful for me and my healing. That I can control my thoughts to focus on what I want to do.

Now, I keep the rigor slightly flexible but still non-negotiable for my days as much as possible.

He, on his end, ensured no one in the family fell sick—I had not fallen sick in 2 years!! He made me fail a few interviews, haha, which now, in hindsight, would not have been good for me. He kept me fit and sane and helped me do my duties without a misstep.

Last but not least, I’ve learned firsthand that I have a long way to go in faith or devotion, and I have not truly understood either fully. Discipline is a powerful tool to heal. Develop a routine that is yours and that becomes non negotiable. That will give a sense of anchoring to you irrespective of the relationships around you. Whatever that routine is, stick to it even when it is hard and you will see amazing shifts inside your own self.