Paradeswar Temple, Dharmagarh, Kalahandi

Paradeswar Temple is located in Dharamgarh, Orissa. Established in 2001, the Paradeswar Temple is a Holy Place for worshipping Lord Shiva.The sacred Mercury Linga, weighing about 52kg, was brought from Bhuj (Gujurat) and it was said to be one among the three such Lingas in Asia at that time.

The Legend Of Parad (Mercury) 

In the continuing war between the gods & demons, the gods had to continuously suffer defeats from the might of the Rakshasas(demons). Unable to cope up, the gods lead by indra approached Lord Brahma answered that only a warrior conceived out of shaktipunj ( the semen of lord shiva) can lead the gods to victory. The gods requested Lord shiva who then advanced towards goddess paravati to father a son.

Out of curiosity, the gods sent Agnideva (the god of fire) in the form of a pigeon to spy. Lord shiva, having found this, released his semen in the fire of Agnideva, who couldn’t endure the heat of this marvel & released it in the cool waters of river Ganges. However, mother Ganges too couldn’t stand the heat & threw it back on Earth. Thus, the semen of Lord shiva having passed through the holy fire & sacred waters became Mercury or para, which happens to be the only metal in liquid form. The solid form of mercury if popularly knows as Parad. Solidifying mercury itself is an ancient vedic science. ‘Dharnidhar Samhita’ lists out sixteen different steps through which liquid mercury to pass to enable it to become oure & beneficial. After undergoing these sixteen steps, mercury is ready to be moudled into any form. Vedic references point to a highly rewarding worship precedent of Shivaling made out of solid mercury & the base (vedi) in the form of solid sulphur, solid sulphur being the essence of Goddess Parvati.

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