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A Jyotirlinga is a sacred object worshipped by Hindus representing the God Shiva. Jyoti means 'Flame or radiance' and linga means the 'mark or sign' of Shiva. Jyotir Lingam thus means the flame of The Almighty Shiva. It is believed that Lord Shiva first manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Aridra Nakshatra. It is believed that by continue worshipping of Jyotirlinga, when a devotee connects with the almighty, can see Joytirlinga as flame piercing the earth. The Puranas are full of references to the greatness of the Jyotirlingas. By reciting the name of this, one can eliminate all the sins. The devotee becomes calm, chaste and pure. He becomes illuminated and enlightened with supreme and divine knowledge. Legend According to Shiva Mahapurana, once Brahma (the God of creation) and Vishnu (the God of Preservation) had an argument over supremacy of creation. They came to Shiva for final word. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga and asked both of them to find the end of these sacred light pillars. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions and both couldn't find the end. But Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu accepted his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva appears. Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the endless nature of Shiva. There is a belief that, by visiting all these twelve Jyothirlingas in the month of November-December (Kartika Masam) one can attain Moksha. The following sanskrit sloka describes the 12 Jyotirlingas: Saurashtra Somnatham Cha Shrishaile Mallikarjunam || Ujjainyam Mahakalomkare Mammaleshwaram || Parlyam Vaijnatham Cha Dakinyam Bheem Shankaram || Setu Bandhe Tu Ramesham Nagesham Daruka Vane || Varanasya Tu Vishwesham Tribakam Gautamitate || Himalaye Tu Kedaram Ghurmesham Cha Shivalaye || Aetani Jyotirlingani Sayam Prataha Pathennaraha || Sapta Janma Kritam Papam Smaranen Vinashyati || Meaning: Somanath in Saurashtra and Mallikarjunam in Shri-Shailam; Mahakaal in Ujjain, Omkareshwar in Amleshwar; Vaidyanath in Paralya and Bhimashankaram in Dakinya; Ramesham (Rameshwaram) in Sethubandh, Nagesham in Daruka-Vana; Vishwa-Isham (Vishvanath) in Vanarasi, Triambakam at bank of the river Gautami; Kedar (Kedarnath) in Himalayas and Gushmesh (Gushmeshwar) in Shivalaya (Shiwar). One who recites these Jyotirlingas every evening and morning is relieved of all sins committed in past seven lives. One who visits these, gets all his wishes fulfilled and one's karma gets eliminated as Maheshwara gets satisfied to the worship. Twelve Jyotirlingas The names and the locations of 12 other Jyotirlinga's are mentioned in the Shiva Purana. These shrines are: 1 Somnath Somnath temple is located at Prabhas Patan (Somnath - Veraval) in Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in western India. Somnath is traditionally considered the first pilgrimage site. The 12 Jyotirlinga Yatra pilgrimage begins with the Somnath Temple. The temple, that was destroyed and re-built sixteen times, is held in reverence throughout India and is rich in legend, tradition, and history. It is 2 Mallikarjuna Srisailam Mallikarjuna, also called Srisaila, is located on a mountain in Kurnool District in Rayalaseema. Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple that is architecturally and sculpturally rich. It is a place where Shakti peetha and Jyotirlingam are together. Adi Shankara composed his Sivananda Lahiri here. 3 Mahakaleshwar Mahakal Temple Ujjain, Mahakal, Ujjain (or Avanti) in Madhya Pradesh is home to the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple. The Lingam at Mahakal is believed to be Swayambhu, the only one of the 12 Jyotirlingams to be so. It is also the only one facing south and also the temple to have a Shree Yantra perched upside down at the ceiling of the Garbhagriha. It is a place where Shakti peeth and Jyotirlingam are together. 4 Omkareshwar Omkareshwar is in Madhya Pradesh on an island in the Narmada River and home to a Jyotirlinga shrine and the Mamaleshwar temple. 5 Kedarnath Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand is revered as the northernmost and the closest Jyotirlinga to Lord Shiva's eternal abode of Mount Kailash. Kedarnath forms a part of the smaller Char Dham pilgrimage of Hinduism. Kedarnath is an ancient temple located in the snow-clad Himalayas. It is open only for six months in a year. It is also one of the Padal Petra Stalam of Vada Naadu mentioned in Thevaaram. Shiva assumed the form of wild boar and dived into the earth at Kedarnath to emerge at Pashupatinath. Pure ghee is applied at Kedarnath lingam as the boar was injured. 6 Bhimashankar Bhimashankar temple location is very much questioned. There is a Bhimashankara temple near Pune (pictured) in Maharashtra, which was referred to as Daakini country, but Kashipur in Uttarakhand was also referred to as Daakini country in ancient days and a Bhimashkar Temple known as Shree Moteshwar Mahadev is present there. Another Bhimashankar is in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra. The Bhimashankar temple near Guwahati, Assam is the jyotirlinga according to Shivapuran. According to Linga Purana, Bhimasankar temple in Bhimpur near Gunupur of Rayagada district in South Orissa is also believed as Bhimasankar Jyotirlinga, which is situated at the western part of the holy Mahendragiri mountains and at the river bank of Mahendratanaya, was excavated in the year 1974, having quadrangular Shakti around the Linga and decorated by a Upavita as per the puran. 7 Kashi Vishwanath Temple Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh is home to the Vishwanath Jyotirlinga shrine, which is perhaps the most sacred of Hindu shrines. It is also one of the Padal Petra Stalam of Vada Naadu mentioned in Thevaaram. The temple is situated in Varanasi the holiest existing place of Hindus, where at least once in life a Hindu is expected to do pilgrimage, and if possible, also pour the remains of cremated ancestors on the River Ganges. The temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganges, and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. In fact, it is a place where Shakti peeta and Jyotirlingam are together. It is the holiest of all Shiva temples. The main deity is known by the name Vishwanath or Vishweshwara meaning Ruler of the universe. The temple town, which claims to be the oldest living city in the world, with 3500 years of documented history, is also called Kashi. 8 Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple, near Nasik in Maharashtra, is a Jyotirlinga shrine associated with the origin of the Godavari River. 9 Vaidyanath Temple Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga temple, also known as Baba dham and Baidyanath dham is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the most sacred abodes of Shiva. It is located in Deoghar in the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkhand, India. It is a temple complex consisting of the main temple of Baba Baidyanath, where the Jyotirlinga is installed, and 21 other temples.According to Hindu beliefs, the demon king Ravana worshipped Shiva at the current site of the temple to get the boons that he later used to wreak havoc in the world. Ravana offered his ten heads one after the another to Shiva as a sacrifice. Pleased with this, Shiva descended to cure Ravana who was injured. As he acted as a doctor, he is referred to as Vaidhya ("doctor"). From this aspect of Shiva, the temple derives its name. 10 Aundha Nagnath Temple Aundha Nagnath Temple is located in Hingoli District, Marathwada region Maharashtra. Nagesh Jyotirlinga is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned in the Shiva Purana. Nagesh is believed as the first Jyotirlinga on the earth. There are three major shrines in India which are believed as identical to this Jyotirlinga. the Nageshvara temple near Dwaraka in Gujarat state and the Jageshwar temple near Almora in Uttarakhand state.other Naagnath temple but not jyotirling are the Nagnath temple in Aundha in Maharashtra state, 11 Rameshwar Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu is home to the vast Ramalingeswarar Jyotirlinga temple and is revered as the southernmost of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of India. It enshrines the Ramesvara ("Lord of Rama") pillar. It is also one of the Padal Petra Stalam of Pandya Naadu mentioned in Thevaaram. 12 Grishneshwar Ghushmeshwar mahadev.jpg Maharashtra Verul, Daulatabad, Maharashtra Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned in the Shiva Purana. Grishneshwar is believed as the Last or 12th (twelfth) Jyotirlinga on the earth. This pilgrimage site is located at a village called Verul which lies at a distance of 11 km from Daulatabad (Devagiri) and 30 km from Aurangabad. It lies at a close proximity to the Ellora caves. located at Prabhas Patan (Somnath - Veraval) in Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in western India.
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