Divine "Nandi "experience of Shiva

There is a very popular proverb in Varanasi “Banaras ke kan-kan me bholenath rehte hain” Translation : Shiva resides in each and every particle of Varanasi. There are many proofs for this but let me show you something different this time…There is a shop named Lucknow Chikan (don't confuse with Chicken please, Chikan is an artfully knitted fabric) house near to dashaswamedh ghat where they sell suits and kurtaa but wait that is not the speciality of this shop as there are many other shops in that area who sell similar type of material, now let’s come to the point actually I'm talking about a bull …Confused?? Let me show you a picture :

Yes, this Nandi come to this shop everyday just to get darshan and to sit near the idol of lord shiva (Bholenath), Nandi comes to this shop everyday at 10AM when the shop opens and sits until the shop closes. On Sundays and other holidays when the shop is closed he try to get the glimpse of lord shiva through a window in the shop and this is the daily routine of Nandi from past several years, Special about Nandi is that he never goes to another shop and always come to that shop daily at 10 AM.

The shop owner feeds Nandi everyday and because of Nandi his shop is famous all around Varanasi and people come to that shop just to get darshan of Nandi. This can only happen in Kashi where lord shiva resides in each and every part of the city, Whenever I pass through that shop and see Nandi I always get goosebumps.

Hinduism abounds with legends of miracles; of superhuman deeds of gods born as humans; and of mortals claiming to have been visited by one of the various Hindu gods. But the following story is quite unique. A Hindu sights a Hindu god in his dream or has a vision of a god in real life, that’s believable because the person reveres that god. But a Christian claiming to see a Hindu god who ends up saving the man’s life…that’s unheard of.

Lord Shiva – The Saviour; It was 1879, and the British were ruling India. An officer in the British Army, Lt. Col. Martin of Agar Malva, was leading the army in the war against Afghanistan. Col. Martin would regularly send messages of his well-being to his wife. The war went on for a long period of time and Lady Martin stopped getting his messages. This naturally worried her. One day, while riding on her horse, she passed by the temple of Baijnath Mahadev. The sounds of the conch and mantras attracted her. She went inside the temple and came to know that the Brahmans were worshipping Lord Shiva.

The Brahmans saw her and noticed that she was sad and tense. They asked what the matter was and she explained everything to them. They told her that Lord Shiva listens to the prayers of devotees and takes them out of difficult situations. On the advice of the Brahmans, she started the ‘Laghu-rudri Anushthan’ of the Mantra: ‘Om Namah Shivaya’, for 11 days. She prayed to Lord Shiva that if her husband reaches home safely, then she would get the temple renovated.

On the last of the ‘Laghu-rudri’, a messenger came and gave her a letter. It was from her husband. He had written – “I was regularly sending messages to you from the battle grounds, but suddenly the Pathans surrounded us from all sides. We were entrapped in a situation where there was no scope of escaping death. Suddenly, I saw a Yogi of India with long hair, carrying a weapon with three pointers (Trishul). His personality was amazing and he was maneuvering his weapon with a magnificent style.

Seeing this great man, the Pathans started running back. With his grace, our bad times turned into moments of victory. This was possible only because of that man of India wearing a lion skin and carrying a three-pointer weapon (Trishul). That great Yogi told me that I should not worry and that he had come to rescue me because he was very pleased with my wife’s prayers.” Tears of joy fell down Lady Martin’s eyes as she read the letter. She fell into the feet of Lord Shiva’s statue and burst into tears.

After a few weeks, Col. Martin returned. They both visited the Baijnath Mahadev Temple to thank Lord Shiva for saving Col. Martin’s life. It was then that he realised the striking resemblance of Lord Shiva to the Yogi who’d appeared on the battle field to save his life. Both became devotees of Lord Shiva. They helped in rebuilding the temple premises and donated money for its maintenance. The British couple’s name is engraved on the slab inside the temple premises. Till date, the Baijnath Mahadev Temple is the only Hindu temple in the country that was built by British! Om Namah Shivay