Jyotirlinga

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A Jyotirlinga or Jyotirling or Jyotirlingam is a shrine where Lord Shiva, an aspect of God in Hinduism is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam or "Lingam of light." There are twelve traditional Jyotirlinga shrines in India.

It is believed^[who?] that Shiva first manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Aridra Nakshatra, thus the special reverence for the Jyotirlinga. There is nothing to distinguish the appearance, but it is believed that a person can see these lingas as columns of fire piercing through the earth after he reaches a higher level of spiritual attainment.

1 The twelve Jyotirlingas in India
2 See also
3 Notes
4 References
5 External links

[edit] The twelve Jyotirlingas in India

The names and the locations of the 12 Jyotirlingas are mentioned in the Shiva Purana (Śatarudra Saṁhitā,Ch.42/2-4). These shrines are:

Somnath, destroyed and re-built six times, is held in reverence throughout India and is rich in legend, tradition, and history. It is located at Prabhas Patan in Saurashtra in Gujarat.
Mallikārjuna, also called Śrīśaila, is the name of the pillar located on a mountain on the river Krishna.^[1] Srisailam, near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh enshrines Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple that is architecturally and sculpturally rich. Adi Shankara composed his Sivananda Lahiri here.^{[citation needed]}
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 Garbha Graha (where the Shiv Lingam sits).
Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh on an island in the Narmada river is home to a Jyotirlinga shrine and the Amareshwar temple.
Kedarnath in Uttarakhand is the northernmost of the Jyotirlingas. Kedarnath, nestled in the snow-clad Himalayas, is an ancient shrine, rich in legend and tradition. It is accessible only by foot, and only for six months a year.
Bhimashankar, in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra, contains a Jyotirlinga shrine associated with Shiva destroying the demon Tripurasura. There is also a Bhimashankara temple at Kashipur near Nainital, which was referred to as Daakini country in ancient days. It is believed that Bhima the Pandava prince was married to Hidamba, a Daakini here. Mahashivaratri is celebrated in great splendour here too. This temple also has shrines to Bhairavanath and Devi, and a temple tank by name Shivaganga.
Varanasi (Benares) in Uttar Pradesh is home to the Vishwanath Jyotirling temple.
Trimbakeshwar, near Nasik in Maharashtra, has a Jyotirlinga shrine associated with the origin of the Godavari river.
Baidyanathdham in Deoghar, Jharkhand Vaidyanath Temple, also called Vaijnath Temple and Baidyanth Temple is located at Deogarh in the Santal Parganas region of Jharkhand in the south west of Keeul Station.
Nageshwar Temple, Dwarka in Gujarat is home to the Nageshwar temple. However, the term "daruka vane" in the shloka (religious verse) for Nageshwar has also been interpreted for Jageshwar, situated in the Uttarakhand Himalaya. Daruka vane means deodar forest.
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 Rameśvara ("Lord of Rama") pillar.^[2]
Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga shrine, in Aurangabad Maharashtra, is located near the rock-cut temples of Ellora.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

^ For Mallikārjuna (Śrīśaila) as one of the twelve "Pillars of Light" see: Chakravarti 1994, p. 140.
^ For Rameshvara as one of the twelve "Pillars of Light", see: Chakravarti 1994, p. 140.

[edit] References

Chakravarti, Mahadev (1994), written at Delhi, The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through The Ages (Second Revised ed.), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0053-2

[edit] External links

v • d • e Jyotirlinga temples of Shiva

Somnath · Dwarka · Mahakaleshwar · Srisailam · Bhimashankar · Omkareshwar · Kedarnath · Varanasi · Trimbakeshwar · Rameswaram · Grishneshwar · Deoghar