At high tide, the temple will be “swallowed” completely and reappear only when the water recedes.
Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple is a Shiva temple with the age of about 150 years, located in the town of Kavi Kamboi, in the state of Gujarat, India.
This ancient temple is located on the Arabian Sea and Cambay Bay. Designed quite simply, not too sophisticated in terms of architecture, but this place is still a particularly crowded destination and has become a sacred religious spot in India.
According to Hindu mythology, the building was created by Lord Kartik. The story goes that Lord Kartik (son of Lord Shiva) felt guilty after killing the demon Tarakasura. Seeing this, Lord Vishnu comforted Lord Kartik that this was the right course of action for eliminating a living demon that caused trouble to the common people.
The temple appears at low tide.
However, Lord Kartkeya wanted to do something to forgive this murder. And it was Vishnu who advised this Lord to create the temple as a way to ask for forgiveness.
However, the high tide is also the time when the temple is “swallowed”.
The most unique feature of Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple is that it is completely submerged under the sea at high tide.
Only when the tide recedes does the temple “emerge” from the sea, revealing a 1.2-meter-tall statue of Lord Shiva lingam. It is because of this unusual “submergence” that Stambheshwar Mahadev is also known as the Sunken temple .
The town of Kavi Kamboi is located about 75 km from Vadodara in Gujarat. The place is well connected to the road, so guests can choose to take a taxi or drive a private car from Vadodara to Stambeshwar Mahadev.
The temple is about 150 years old.
If traveling by train, you can choose Vadodara station, which is near the town of Kavi Kamboi. The best way to come here is to spend an entire day watching the temple sink under the tide. Then when the water recedes, the temple returns to its original state.
Usually, the tide will be low in the early morning. That is also the time when many tourists choose to meditate in a quiet space. In addition, you can choose to walk around the temple, enjoy the feeling of being close to nature in the sound of the waves crashing.
Impressive moment of the temple at high tide.
At noon, people often go to the restaurants located right in the parking area only about half a kilometer. If you don’t want to, you can eat free meals for devotees right in the temple.
A small space inside the temple is always covered with fresh flowers by devotees.
And not long after lunch was over, Stambheshwar Mahadev would gradually sink into the sea. This breathtaking moment is as if the building was enveloped in glory before being “swallowed” by the darkness of the sea and the night that would envelop the place.
It is a famous spiritual place in India, so tourists from all over the world flock here in large numbers.
Also at the time of high tide, devotees will place flowers floating on the sea surface, showing their respect and creating a meaningful spiritual scene.
It is this uniqueness and the spiritual stories of the religion that have attracted many visitors from all over the world to witness this interesting scene.