Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

3031 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Late medieval · Hindu · India

Shanaleshwara Swayambhu Temple

Nalas, Rajpura, Patiala district, Punjab · 30.5378°, 76.5811°

Shiva (swayambhu lingam)Patiala royal patronage
Sacred since
1592 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
c. 1592 (Patiala patronage)
Patiala royal patronage

History & significance

A Shiva shrine near Rajpura built around a lingam held to be self-manifested, with a structure commissioned by the Maharaja of Patiala and a sadhu presence recorded from the fifteenth century. Hundreds of thousands of devotees converge on it at Maha Shivaratri.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

A cowherd is said to have found the lingam after his cow kept letting down her milk at one spot; when the buried stone was struck it bled, and a sage nearby recognised it as divine.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Patiala royal patronage