86-yr-old priest performs puja & cleans huge Shivalinga idol daily

He cleans and does puja to the massive 9+ feet tall “Badavi
Linga” in Hampi, Karnataka, daily. After Vijayanagara was destroyed by Bahamani
Sultans, no puja for 450 years. He restarted in the 1980s. His name is KN Krishna Bhat,  86 years old. What
shocked me today is this great man at such an old age has to do this. Where has
the so-called Indian Youth gone? To my surprise, he has been doing it daily for
last 35 years.
This was his
picture some years ago. He was well into ’80s then. If we can’t help the priests, I
don’t know who else would. He
starts working immediately. Some locals say he came here 50 years ago and has
been worshipping his idol Shivalinga for the last three decades. When they seek
blessings of the Lord, the priest picks up the water from the temple and then
sprinkles on them. “There is no other way to worship the Shivalinga,
without stepping upon it”. You cannot say that this amounts to sacrilege. It is
about commitment and devotion. You cannot even use a ladder or any support in
the water-filled temple,” says Shiva Bhat, a senior priest at Virupaksha temple
explains how he manages to do puja. The
temple holds a strong history. It is located in the course of the Thurtha canal
built by the Raya dynasty of Vijayanagara. It gives a unique background to
Bhat’s puja.. There is a belief
that the if coins thrown at the Shivalinga come to rest on the structure
without falling into the water below, then the prayers of the devotee will be
answered. 

lightuptemple