Kankeshwar Shiv Mandir/ Kanaki Shiv Mandir Korba, Chhattisgarh

This Kankeshwar Mahadev Temple is located in Kanki village, 20 km from Korba city. This temple is very crowded during the time of Sawan and Mahashivratri. In olden times this temple was also known as Chakreshwar Mahadev Temple. You can see a lot of old Shivalingas in different shapes and sizes around the temples. This area is visited by migratory birds which come here.

Kankeshwar Mahadev is located in Kanki village of Korba district of Chhattisgarh, which is 20 kilometers away from Korba, 70 kilometers away from Bilaspur and about 200 kilometers away from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh.

Kankeshwar Mahadev, the form of Lord Shiva, is situated in a village named Kanki. This is an ancient Shiva temple of Chhattisgarh which is also known as Chakreshwar Mahadev. Kanaki village situated in Korba district is situated amidst dense forest and natural beauty on all four sides. There is a large crowd of devotees at this holy place on the day of Mahashivratri and during the holy month of Lord Shiva, devotees come from far and wide carrying Ganga water on foot, shouting slogans of Bol Bam and offering water to Kanakeshwar Mahadev.

Famous as Kanakeshwar Dham, this center of faith

Every Monday of the month of Sawan in Kankeshwardham Kanaki, a crowd of devotees gathers in the temple. People from the surrounding areas including the district and other states also come to worship Kanakeshwar Mahadev and perform Jalabhishek. Many devotees come to Kanwar carrying water and chanting ‘Bol Bam’ and get the benefit of darshan. Kankeshwar Mahadev of village Kanki is the center of religious faith for the people of this area. Thousands of people queue up and offer prayers to fulfill their wishes. Kanakeshwar Mahadev seated here is also called Bhuiphod Mahadev, the story of whose origin is told by the villagers.

200 years old self-established Shivalinga on the banks of Hasdev river.

The temple of Kankeshwar Mahadev situated on the banks of Hasdev river in Kanaki village of Korba was built 200 years ago by the Zamindar family of Korba. There is a Swayambhu Shivalinga located on this temple, which was discovered by a cow herder named Baiju from the same village. Apart from Lord Kanakeshwar, this temple has a unique collection of sculptures of ancient times. The statues found during excavation near Madwarani temple have been kept in this temple. Along with this, there is a Shivling in Kanakeshwar temple which is rotated in all directions by the devotees which is called Chakri Shivling or Chakreshwar Mahadev. At present this action has been stopped. Statues of other gods and goddesses have also been installed in this temple complex since ancient times.

How did Swayambhu appear?

The ancient story of Kankeshwar Mahadev Temple is quite popular. It is said that in ancient times, there used to be a cow herder named Baiju in this village who used to graze the cows of all the villagers. The place where Lord Kanakeshwar is situated, at that time there used to be a dense forest cover at this place. The place where a cow used to go every day to milk. Due to milk spilling every day, Baiju had to be scolded by the cow’s owner. Baiju started keeping an eye on that cow. Then one day Baiju saw that the cow was spilling milk on a small stone. Then Baiju went to see the stone and in anger started hitting the stone on which the milk was falling, then the stone got divided into small pieces. Then in the same night, Baiju dreams about the stone which he had tried to remove considering it to be a stone, it was not a common stone but a Shivalinga. Then Baiju went in the morning and saw that there were some pieces of rice along with Shivalinga which is called Kanaki in the language of Chhattisgarh. Then Baiju informed all the villagers, from then on the construction of Kankeshwar Mahadev temple was started at that place and the puja was started. Which is currently one of the main religious places of Lord Shiva in Chhattisgarh.