Dedicated to Hindu God Shiva, Mahalingeshwara Temple is a popular temple at Puttur near Mangalore in Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka. The Shivling worshipped at the temple was brought from Kashi by three Brahmins. They had placed the Shivling at Puttur for worship and then they could not remove it from the spot. This is the only temple after Kashi Vishwanath Temple which has a cremation ground just opposite to the temple. The Brahmins sought the help of several people and the king of the land to remove the Shivling from the spot. The king of the land and his soldiers tried to move the Shivling but they could not. The elephant of the king was used to pull the Shivling. But a miracle happened. The Shivling grew in size and became Mahalingeshwara and the elephant was killed in the process. It is said that the elephant was shattered into pieces and different parts of it fell in different regions in Puttur. Even today the surrounding regions of Puttur have names of diff