Shivalinga has reportedly been installed at Infantry Training Centre (ITC) Catterick in England, said to be the largest British Army garrison in the world.

According to reports, Brigadier David Maddan was present during the ceremony to install this Shivalinga, which was designed in India. ITC Catterick has a Pandit and houses a Hindu Temple, where daily puja and weekly Sunday service are held and festivals celebrated.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, commended British Army for installing Shivalinga at Infantry Training Centre. It was a step in the right direction, Zed added.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged the British Army to fulfill the spiritual needs of Hindu soldiers wherever they were posted around the world, as spirituality was important to Hindus.

ITC Catterick trains all the British Army’s infantrymen and claims of “producing some of the best infantry soldiers in the world”. It has Brigade of Gurkhas, whose history goes back to 1815.

Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion in the world with about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva, along with Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu, forms the great triad of Hindu deities.