Jyotirlingas

Jyotirlingas are the manifestations of Lord Shiva. The word Jyotirlinga is made from Jyoti which means radiance of light and Linga which is an icon of Lord Shiva. Jyotirlingas are different from the other Shivlinga in the sense that, either they are self-existing or established by the divine gods. Aadi Shankaracharya, an Indian Saint declared the main twelve Jyotirlingas and they are referred to as the Dwadash Jyotirlingas. Jyotirlingas are the holy shrines of Lord Shiva.

Following is the description of the Dwadash Jyotirlingas.

1. Somnath – This Jyotirlinga is situated in Veraval, Gujarat, India. This Jyotirlinga is named after the moon god Soma. He was cursed by his father- in-law Prajapati Daksha because of giving more attention to his wife Rohini and neglecting other wives. Soma worshipped the Lord Shiva to cure and to regain his light again. Lord Shiva blessed Soma and took him on his head. Somnath temple is a very beautiful temple having the sights of the Arabian Sea. According to the religious text of Shiv Mahapuran Somnath is the first Jyotirlinga. According to history, the whole Somnath Temple was built of gold but some attackers damaged it.

2. Mallikarjun –This Jyotirlinga is situated in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh, India. According to Shiv Mahapuran, once upon a time lord Kartikeya got upset with his parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati because of giving more love to his younger brother lord Ganesha. So Lord Kartikeya decided to leave Kailash and went to South India. Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati came here to please their son and appeared as Jyotirlingama together. The Shiva Lingam was worshipped by the Swami Kartikeya.

3. Omkareshwar – This Jyotirlinga is situated in the Mandhata, Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located on the banks of the Narmada river. According to the legends, in this place, Vindhya mountain worshipped Lord Shiva to become bigger than Mount Meru. Lord Shiva granted his wish and manifested it as a Jyotirlinga here. The Lingam split into two parts one is Omkareshwar, the god of Omkara and another is Amareshwara, the god of immortals.

4. Mahakaleshwar –This Jyotirlinga is situated in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located on the banks of the Shipra River. According to the legends, the king of Ujjain named Chandrasen was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. A young farmer boy Shridhar saw the worship of the king and started the worship along with him. He was not allowed to do so and was sent away from the city. The city of Ujjain was attacked by the enemy Kings. Shridhar began to pray to Lord Shiva to protect the city from the enemies. Lord Shiva got pleased with his devotion and manifested it as Mahakaal form and saved them. Kaal means time and death. So Mahakaal is the lord of time and death. Bhasma Aarti i.e.offering ashes to the Mahakaal is a very famous ritual in Mahakaleshwar temple.

5. Baidyanath –This Jyotirlinga is situated in Deoghar, Jharkhand, India. The story behind this Jyotirlinga is as the demon King Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and wanted to make Lanka Lord Shiva’s home. He offered his ten heads to the lord. Lord Shiva pleased by doing so and came down to cure injured Ravana like a baidaya or doctor. Lord Shiva told that he could not come with Ravana, but he would come with him in the form of Linga. Lord Shiva also told that if he put the linga down to the earth then it would be established there. Ravana was tricked by the Gods. Gods sent Varun Dev, the god of water into Ravana’s stomach. Ravana gave the Shiv Lingam to a boy who was Lord Vishnu. He placed it down and it became the famous Baidyanath Jyotirlinga. Shravani Mela of Baidyanath temple is very popular and also called Kanwar-yatra.

6. Kedarnath – This Jyotirlinga is situated in the Garhwal Himalayan range, Uttarakhand, India. It is located on the banks of the Mandakini River. Kedarnath means the lord of the Kedar region. According to Shiv Mahapuran, this Jyotirlinga was established by the Nar- Narayana. In the dwapar Yuga, Pandavas came here to worship Lord Shiva to finish their sins after the war of Mahabharata. They spotted The shiv linga here. Lord Shiva came in the form of a bull. Lord Shiva was not willing to forgive them. So he disappeared into the ground. Bhima tried to pull him out by his tail and legs. Lord Shiva reappeared in the five parts in different places as Panch Kedar. The Pandavas built the huge Temple here. Lord Shiva promised them to stay here.

In the Kedarnath temple, Jyotirlinga is in the form of a triangular shape. The statues of the other gods and the Pandavas are on the inner walls of the temple. Because of the extreme cold climate, the statues are shifted to the Ukhimath in the winters for six months.

In the heavy floods of the year 2013, the whole Kedar region was destroyed, but the temple remained unaffected.

7. Bhimashankar –This Jyotirlinga is situated in the Bhorgiri village, Maharashtra, India. The story behind this Jyotirlinga is as, there was the demon named Bheema, he was the son of Kumbhakaran, the younger brother of Ravana, and his mother was Karkati. When he knew that his father was killed by Lord Vishnu’s incarnation Lord Rama. He wanted revenge and prayed to the Lord Brahma. Brahma got pleased with him and gave him a superpower and strength. He started the misuse of his powers and wanted to kill a devotee of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva then appeared to save his devotee and burned Bheema into the Ashes. Lord Shiva manifested as Shivlinga and it became  Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga.

8. Trimbakeshwar – This Jyotirlinga is situated in the Trimbak region, Maharashtra, India. This temple is surrounded by three Hills named Brahmagiri, Nilagiri, and Kalagiri. The Godavari river flows near the temple. According to the legends, sage Gautam lived here with his wife Ahilya. In the lack of rains, the whole region became dried. So sage Gautam performed fire sacrifices to please the Gods. Gods blessed him with a pond which was an unlimited source of water. Seeing this other saints became jealous of Gautam and sent a cow into his fields. When sage Gautam was trying to move away from the cow from his fields, it died. So Gautam worshipped Lord Shiva to finish the sins of killing a cow. Lord Shiva forgive him and released the Ganga river to purify his fields. Lord Shiva manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga.

9. Kashi Vishwanath –This Jyotirlinga is situated in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located on the banks of the holy river Ganga. According to Shiv Mahapuran, this Jyotirlinga was established by Manu and his wife Satrupa at the beginning of the Universe. Vishwanath means the Lord of the universe. Lord Shiva along with the Goddess Parvati as Devi Annapurna is worshipped here. The temple situated on Manikarnika ghat is a world-famous site.

The final structure of the Kashi Vishwanath temple was built by Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore.

It is believed that Lord Shiva has held Kashi city on his trident and it is also believed that Kashi will remain unaffected till the end of the universe. Ganga aarti is a popular ritual over here.

10. Nageshwar –This Jyotirlinga is situated in Dwarka, Gujarat, India. Nageshwar means Lord of the serpents. According to the legends, there was a demon named Daruk and his wife Daruka. They worshipped the Lord Brahma and got the boon. They became very powerful and started the misuse of their powers. They captured many devotees and sent them to prison. A Lord Shiva’s devotee Supriya was prisoned by demons. They tried to kill him. Lord Shiva appeared to save his devotee and killed the demons. Lord Shiva manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga.

It is believed that Lord Shri Krishna had also worshipped Lord Shiva here. According to the beliefs, worshipping Nageshwar Jyotirlinga will protect them from the poison of serpents.

11. Rameshwaram –This Jyotirlinga is situated in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, India. Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga is named after Lord Shri Rama. According to the Purans, lord Shri Rama had worshipped Lord Shiva in this place. According to the epic Ramayana, Lord Shri Rama built the RamSetu bridge to Sri Lanka to rescue his kidnapped wife Sita. Before the war with the demon Ravana, Lord Shri Rama made a Linga of sand and worshipped Lord Shiva here for blessings. Lord Shiva blessed him. Earlier the shrine was under the Pandya dynasty. Several Royal families had maintained it from time to time.

The temple has a very beautiful pyramidal structure.

12. Ghrineshwar – This Jyotirlinga is situated in Ellora, Maharashtra, India. According to the Puranas, once there was a lord Shiva’s great devotee named as Ghushma. She worshipped Lord Shiva every day by making ShivLingam and immersing it in a pond. Her husband’s first wife Sudeha was jealous of her devotion. Sudeha killed Ghushma’s son and threw him into that pond. Ghushma didn’t disturbed by this and continued her daily worship to the lord. Lord Shiva was pleased with her dedication and made her son alive. Lord Shiva manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga here.

The temple is a very beautiful structure. The temple is built of red rocks. The images of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu are also engraved in this temple. The present structure was built by Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore.