Shiva statue unveiled in first man-made cave shrine in Australia

MELBOURNE: A 4.5 metres tall white marble statue of lord Shiva has been consecrated and unveiled in a shrine touted to be the world's first man-made underground cave temple in Sydney's suburb of Minto.

Shipped from Varanasi, the statue has been mounted on a concrete pedestal with the help of a crane at the Hindu temple 'Mukti Gupteshwar Mandir'.

The new statue has become a huge attraction, Prem Misra, President of Mukti-Gupteshwar Mandir Society said adding, the statue was carved from one single pure stone and has four arms.

"It has been fitted with seven coloured LED lights that change colour every minute," he said.

The temple is first of its kind man-made underground cave temple in the world, he said.

The temple, where the statue has been consecrated has 1,128 small temples inside it and its ten meter deep vault in the sanctum contains two million handwritten notes with the mantra 'Om Namah Shivaya', from devotees around the world.

It further possesses water from 81 rivers, including major rivers from Australia and from the five oceans, Misra said.