The main murti, or worshipful icon, is a rare spathika Sivalinga, a pointed, six-faced 700-pound clear quartz crystal.
The land served as a carving ground for 75 stone-carvers who hand-carved more than 4,000 blocks of granite to be transported to the temple site at Kauai.
[4] Beginning in 2001, the stone were shipped to Kauai and assembly begun by a team of silpi temple carvers under the direction of a master architect or sthapati.
[12] The temple is carved entirely by hand by craftsmen who follow and preserve traditional methods, shaping the stone with small hammers and utilizing over 70 types of chisels.
[citation needed] The inner sanctum of the temple houses the murti (sacred image) of Shiva in the form of a rare Spatika Lingam, a pointed, six-faced 700-pound clear quartz crystal.
Instead, it was found in a perfect state encased in mud, probably harvested from its original outcropping by an earthquake.The Spatika Lingam is considered especially sacred because it represents the element of akasha.