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Man Digs 15-Feet Into A National Highway In Telangana Because Apparently Lord Shiva Asked Him To

He was looking for a Shiv-ling.
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Lakhan Manoj, a 30-year-old scavenger from a village in Telangana's Jangaon district, had a dream, one where Lord Shiva visited him and asked him to dig up a Shiv Linga buried 10 feet under the earth.

So Manoj decided to do the will of his Lord but unfortunately the spot specified was bang in the middle of Natioanl Highway 163 that connects Hyderabad and Warangal.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Manoj, with the help of locals managed to deploy a massive earth-moving machine and dug a 15 feet well on the highway which caused traffic snarls and inconvenienced many.

In fact, NDTV reported that he wanted to dig up the Shiv Linga on Shiv Ratri but was unable to garner enough support to undertake the operation. Digging up the road had been Manoj's dream for three years but unable to do so, he would satisfy himself by doing puja on the side of the road.

The report said that apparently every time he passed the section of the road that had been pointed out to him by Lord Shiva, he would go into a trance and shake uncontrollably.

So did Manoj find the Shiv-ling? No. Reports say the Shiv Linga was supposed to be found at 10-feet but they kept on digging for another 5. Manoj wanted to go 2 more feet but unfortunately this is when the cops, who initially were hesitant about stopping this excavation, intervened. In fact, a cop told the NDTV that had they dug any further there would have been a well in the middle of the national highway.

Manoj was arrested and a village sarpanch, a municipal vice chairman and a local Congress leader were all taken into custody for encouraging the act.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.