Somnath in Gir Somnath, Gujarat

 

This is the first of the 12 Jyothirlingam and is located in Veraval in Gujarat.

 

Daksha had married off his 27 daughters to Chandra (Moon God). But Chandra was loving Rohini more. The other daughters complained this bias to their father, Daksha. Daksha subsequently advised Chandra to love all his wives equally. Though he agreed initially, he still continued to love Rohini more. This angered Daksha and he cursed Chandra that his brilliance will fade away. Fearing the curse Chandra approached the Devas who advised him to meet Brahma. Brahma told that there is place where river Saraswati touches the sea. and asked him to pray to Mrithyunjaya and he will save him from this curse. 

After reaching river Sarasvati, Chandra took bath and started his Tapas by reciting the Mrithyunjaya mantra. Subsequently Shiva appeared in the form of a jyothi. Pleased with his devotion, Shiva blessed him that his glow will reduce in 15 days and he may sit on his hair and Chandra’s brilliance will increase to maximum. This will alternatively happen and the curse will also get managed. Shiva also advised Chandra to take care of all wives equally. As Chandra got his lost glory back at this place,  the place later came to be known as Prabhas Patan. 

All the devas requested Brahma that Shiva who saved Chandra (Soma) shall be known as Somanatha and reside in this temple to provide darshan to all his devotees. Lord Shiva agreed to the same.

Here the Lord faces east and on the left is Lord Ganapathy and Lord Anjaneya on the right. Tripura Sundaridevi also sits in the same direction. Sea on the right side of temple gives it a magnificent view. Half a km from temple is Triveni Sangam which is formed by the confluence of the rivers Kapila, Saraswathi and  Harini.

The place is also popular for performing the Pithrukarma for the ancestors. The festival here falls during Karthikeya’s (Shiva’s son) birthday.

 

Mallikarjuna in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh

 

Located in Kurnool, Andra Pradesh.

Adi Sankaracharya composed his Sivanandalahiri here.

Its known as Mallikarjunalingam. Mallika means Jasmin and the the lord is offered Jasmin flowers and hence called Mallikarjuna. This is one of the story behind this temple.

 

This is the only jyothirlingam where Shiva and Shakti offer darshan to their devotees.

Once Lord Ganapathy and Lord Karthikeya had a fight and Karthikeya left for Srisailam. Knowing this, Parvathy devi was very upset came to Srisailam along with Lord Shiva to find Karthikeya and persuade him to return. When Karthikeya came to know that his parents have come searching for him, he quietly left for Kraucha hills. Subsequently Lord Shiva and Parvathy settled down at Srisailam.

Parvathy is known as Mallika and Shiva as Arjuna and this also led to this place to be called as Mallikarjuna and the tree Arjuna is also common here.

The place is also called a Bhookailas as its Shiva’s favourite place to stay after Kailas.

 

Mahakaleswar in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

 

Located on the banks of Kshipra River in Ujjain, MP.

Devotees believe that a visit to this temple will prevent unforeseen death. The lord here provides moksha to those who are born in Kaliyug and hence known as Mahakaleshwar.

According to one mythology, a group of Brahmins were performing Shiv puja and a demon came to know know about this and got furious. When he came to destroy the yagam, Lord Shiva appeared and killed the doom and protected the people.

Once Mahakaleshwar visited Lord Vishnu for alms and the lord pointed his finger. Lord Shiva got angry and used his Trishaw to pierce Vishnu’s finger. The blood for this finger became the Kshipra river. Devotees take bath in this river to wash off their sins. Kumbhamela is conducted on this bank. According to puranas, when the Devas were rushing with Amrit, few drops fell on earth at Haridwar, Prayag, Nashik and Ujjain. Kumbhamela is conducted every 12 years in these divine locations.

 

Omkareshwar in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh

 

Located near the Vindhya hills, the temple is located on an island in Narmada River. Like Kashi Vishwanatha temple on the banks on Ganga, Omkareshwar on the banks of Narmada is considered to give moksha to devotees. As Kasi lets you attain moksha on death, it is said that you attain moksha while living here.

 

Kedarnath in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand

 

Pandavas sought Lord Shiva to relieve themselves from the guild of killing their blood relatives. But shiva didn’t want to release them from their sins, so he discusses himself as a bull. On being found by the pandavas, Shive drove underground. But Bhim could manage to get hold of his hump. Other parts of Shiva in the form of bull showed up at different places. The Hump was found in Kedarnat, the Navel in Madhya Maheshwar, two forelegs in Tungnath, face in Rudranath and hair in Kalpeshwar. Collectively these five sacred places are called Panch Kedar. The original temple was build by Pandavas and the present temple was established by Ali Sankaracharya in 8th Century by restoring the glory of the shrine.

 

Bhimashankar in Maharashtra

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Located in the Sahyadri region of Pune.

Mythology says, once Tripurasura captured Indraloka and Devendra came to this place and prayed to Lord Shiva. Shiva later killed the asura and saved the devas. And while resting at this place, Shiva’s sweat turned into the Bhima river flowing near the present day temple.The place where Shiva sat, later became the location of the Temple.

According to Shiva purana, there was an asura named Bhima. Once this asura enquired his mother about his father whom he had not seen. His mother told that his father is Kumbhkarna who is Raven’s brother. She also told that he was killed by Rama during the war. Hearing this Bhima became furious and he started a Tapas and Lord Brahma appeared to grant him any wish. Bhima wanted limitless strength and was granted the same. To check his strength, he went for a war with the king Priyadharma. After defeating him, Bhima put the King and Queen in prison. He continued his war with other devas and this frightened everyone. They started praying to Lord Shiva to save them from this asura. The Kind and Queen in prison were worshiping a Shiva Linga and the asura tried to destroy it. At that time a bright light or jyothi appeared and it was so hot that it killed the asura. Since it led to the killing of Bhimasura, the linga was called as Bhimasankar.

 

Vishwanath in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

 

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is considered one of the holiest sites in Hinduism. It is believed that a pilgrimage to this temple and a dip in the sacred Ganges river can lead to moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth and death).

Once Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu had a tussle concerning the supremacy of their creative powers. In order to evaluate their powers, Lord Shiva pierced the three worlds with striking force in the form of an endless support of light. This battle culminated in the defeat of Vishnu as Brahma had cunningly lied that he had a premonition that Vishnu had lost. Upon learning about this deception, Shiva cursed Brahma that he would not enjoy the prestige of being worshipped during celebrations while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of time.

Adi Shankaracharya, the great philosopher and theologian, is believed to have established the present structure of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the 8th century AD. His efforts significantly contributed to the temple's prominence.

 

Trimbakeshwar in Nashik, Maharashtra

 

The tale closely resembles the narrative of Shiva's Lingodbhava manifestation. Once, Brahma and Vishnu engaged in a dispute over the highest deity status. In that moment, a radiant pillar appeared before them. They resolved to find its ends to assert their supremacy. Brahma assumed the form of a swan and ascended to seek the upper end, while Vishnu transformed into a boar and descended to locate the lower end. Brahma returned falsely claiming to have reached the top, as Vishnu returned empty-handed. Angered by Brahma's deceit, Shiva, who had manifested as the pillar or linga, cursed Brahma, decreeing that he would not be worshipped in temples. In retaliation, Brahma cursed Shiva to remain as the linga, embedded in the earth at Sahyadri Mountain. Thus, the three-eyed deity, in linga form, emerged at the eastern foothills of Sahyadri, establishing Tryambakeshvar as his sanctuary.

 

The Origin of the River Godavari is recounted in the Padma Purana. Sage Gautama dwelled on Brahmagiri, the mountain near Tryambakeshvar. His wife Ahalya possessed a miraculous erthen pot that always replenished with food. Generously, they fed the hungry using its contents. Envious sages sought to diminish Gautama's merit and caused a cow to perish in his fields. Repenting, Gautama commenced worship of Shiva. Pleased, Shiva granted him a boon. Gautama implored Shiva to release Ganga on earth at Brahmagiri to absolve him of the sin. Shiva complied, and the River Godavari emerged from Gangadwar on Brahmagiri. This legend holds such sway that locals often refer to the river as Ganga instead of Godavari.

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Baidyanath in Deoghar, Jharkhand

 

Located in Deoghar in Jharkhand.

Raavana had defeated King Kubera and taken over Lanka. Yet Raavana was  not satisfied and decided to do a yaga in Himalaya. But Lord Shiva didn’t appear before him and he continued his yaga. He recited the Panchakshara Mantra and started severing each of his head and offered it into the yaga fire. When he was about to chop his 10th head, Lord Shiva & Parvati appeared before him and fulfilled his wish of not being able to be defeated by anyone. Hearing this, the rishi’s and all got worried and approached Narada to find a way out to control Ravana. Subsequently Narada waited to meet Ravana on his way back and asked him if he was convinced that he has become invincible. And persuaded Ravana to try lifting Kailas mountain to check if his wish was really granted. Ravana without knowing the danger behind Narada’s intention, went and tried to life Kailasa. Shiva and Parvathy got furious with this move and Shiva pushed Kailasa down with his leg. Ravanas hands got stuck under the mountain.Following this, Ravana began to recite Samaveda and Lord Shiva got pleased with it and gifted him a Linga. He was instructed not to keep it down anywhere till he reaches his place. On the way back, Ravana stopped to meet the natures call and saw a Brahmin boy and asked him to hold the Linga till he comes back. But the boy, dropped the linga and ran away. The boy was none other that Lord Vishnu. The Linga got stuck in ground forever.

Devotees believe that if you do abhiskek using Ganga water and do three pradakshin by reciting ‘Om Namashivaya’ and do namaskar towards North, all the difficulties in life will be wiped out and will get moksha.

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Nageshwara in Dwarka, Gujarat

 

There once lived a rakshasa called Daruka, who was extremely cruel and tortured the good ones. A Siva devotee, Supriya who was a merchant reached the Darukavanam, where Daruka lived with his wife Daruki, while sailing with his goods. 

Supriya however was staunch is his faith in the Lord and was unmoved by any torture. Lord Siva was pleased and appeared and killed the demon Daruka. Daruki, Darukas wife, now started giving even more trouble than her husband. Siva vanquished her too and gives darshan to his devotees at this place as Nageshwar.

 

Ramanathaswamy in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu

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Located in the island of Rameshwaram.

The legend behind the Ramanathaswamy temple is linked to the most famous Indian Epic Ramayana in which Lord Rama Kills the Asura King Ravana, who ruled the kingdom of Lanka which is now Sri Lanka. After winning the epic battle at Lanka, Lord Rama while returning to his kingdom at Ayodhya wanted to worship Lord Shiva to liberate from his Karma as he killed a Brahmana during War. He asks Hanuman to bring the image of Viswanathar, the Kashi Lingam from Kashi. As hanuman delayed in his quest, Goddess Sita, consort of Lord Rama made a Shivalinga using sand by her own bare hands and he did the pooja using it. This Shiv Linga is the Ramanathaswamy Lingam or Rama Lingam worshipped at Rameswaram Temple. There are 22 holy thirtha’s inside the temple.

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Grishneshwar in Aurangabad, Maharashtra

 

The legend of Grishneshwar talks about Ghushma, a woman married to her sister’s husband, Sudharm. The sister, Sudeha, could not bear a child with the husband, Sudharm. The fear of being childless pushed her to ask her sister, Ghushma to marry Sudharm. She also advised her to offer prayers to Lord Shiva, make 108 Shivalingas and immerse them in a waterbody. Her prayers are said to be answered and she gave birth to a baby boy. Sudeha became jealous of her sister, killed the son (who was married by then) and threw him in the same waterbody.

 

The next day, the son’s wife, discovered bloodstains on the bed and found her husband missing. Ghushma was in between her rituals prayers when her daughter-in-law came to tell her about her son. Ghushma did not let her narration disturb her and continued with her rituals. She believed Lord Shiva will save her son. She began chanting and after the prayers when she was about to immerse the Shivalinga in the waterbody, she saw her son coming. Lord Shiva also appeared, pleased by her devotion and asked her another boon. Ghushma requested him to reside there eternally. Lord Shiva, thus, manifested himself into a Jyotirlinga and came to be known as Ghushmeshwar.