Grishneshwar Temple Jyotirlinga

Grishneshwar Temple Jyotirlinga

Grishneshwar Temple is an ancient pilgrimage site revered as the abode of one of the 12 Jyotirlinga manifestation of Lord Shiva. The Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga shrine is located at a village called Verul, which lies 20 km from Daulatabad (near Aurangabad in Maharashtra) and approximately 100 kms from Manmad station. Located close to Daulatabad (once known as Devagiri) is the popular tourist attractions Ajanta - Ellora.



The Grishneswar Temple was constructed by Ahilyabhai Holkar who also re-constructed the Kashi Viswanatha Temple at Varanasi and the Vishnu Paada Temple at Gaya. The Grishneshwar Temple is also known by several other names like Kusumeswarar, Ghushmeswara, Grushmeswara and Grishneswara.  

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Rameshwaram Temple Jyotirlinga

Rameshwaram Temple Jyotirlinga

Rameshwaram Temple is situated in the island of Rameswaram, off the Sethu coast of Tamil Nadu and is reached via the Pamban Bridge across the sea. The huge temple is known for its long ornate corridors, towers and 36 theerthams.

Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga represents the southernmost of the 12 Jyotirlingams of India and has been a time honored pilgrimage center held on par with Banaras. Rameshwaram Temple Jyotirlinga is associated closely with the Ramayana and Rama's victorious return from Sri Lanka.

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Nageshwar Temple Jyotrilnga

Nageshwar Temple Jyotrilnga

Nageshwar Temple or Nagnath Temple is located on the route between Gomati Dwarka and the Bait Dwarka Island on the coast of Saurashtra in Gujarat. The Jyotirlinga enshrined in the Temple of Nagnath is known as Nageshwar Mahadev and attracts thousands of pilgrims all round the year. This powerful Jyotirlinga symbolizes protection from all poisons. It is said that those who pray to the Nageshwar Linga become free of poison. The Rudra Samhita sloka refers to Nageshwar with the phrase 'Daarukaavane Naagesham'.

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Vaidyanath Temple Jyotirlinga

Vaidyanath Temple Jyotirlinga

Vaidyanath Temple, also called Vaijnath Temple and Baidyanth Temple is located at Deogarh in the Santal Parganas region of Bihar in the south west of Keeul Station. Baidyanath shrine is revered as one of the twelve Jyotirlingams of Shiva. It may be noted that some schools of thought believe Vaidyanath near Parali in Andhra Pradesh to be the Vaidyanatha Jyotirlingam.

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Trimbakashwar Temple Jyotirlinga

Trimbakashwar Temple Jyotirlinga

Shri Trimbakeshwar Temple is located at a distance of about 30-km from Nasik in Maharashtra near the mountain named Brahmagiri from which the river Godavari flows. Trimbakeshwar Temple is revered as one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva and as the source of the river Godavari. Just as Ganga is known as Bhagirathi and is one of the most important river in North India, in the same way, Godavari is also known as Gautami Ganga and is the most sacred river in South India.

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Vishwanath Temple Jyotirlinga

Vishwanath Temple Jyotirlinga

Vishwanath Temple is located amidst the crowded lanes in the holy city of Varanasi also known as Kashi and Benares. The Vishwanath Temple enshrines one of the twelve Jyotirlingams of Lord Shiva and is one of the most revered pilgrimage sites for Hindus. It is believed that Varanasi is the point at which the first Jyotirlinga, the fiery pillar of light by which Shiva manifested his supremacy over other gods, broke through the earth’s crust and flared towards the heavens. More than the Ghats and even the Ganga, the Shivalinga installed in the temple remain the devotional focus of Varanasi. Millions of pilgrims converge here to perform an abhishekam to the sacred Jyotirlingam with sacred water of river Ganga.

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Bhimashankar Temple Jyotirlinga

Bhimashankar Temple Jyotirlinga

Bhimashankar Temple Jyotirlinga is situated in the ghat region of the Sahyadri hills in the village of Bhavagiri, 50-km north west of Khed, near Pune in Maharashtra. Bhima Shankar Temple lies on the banks of the river Bhima. Bhimashankar is also the source of the river Bhima, which flows southeast and merges with the Krishna River near Raichur. The other Jyotirlinga shrines in Maharashtra are Tryambakeshwar and Grishneshwar. It may be noted that according to the Shiv Purana the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga is situated on the Mountain Brahmapur in district Kamrup, Assam.

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Kedarnath Temple Jyotirlinga

Kedarnath Temple Jyotirlinga

One of the holiest pilgrimages for the Hindus, Kedarnath Temple Jyotirlinga is located in the picturesque surroundings of Rudra Himalaya Range at a height of 12000 feet on a mountain named Kedar. Near Kedarnath is the source of the river Mandakini that joins Alakananda at Rudraprayag. This place is approximately 150 miles away from Hardwar and 132 miles north of Hrishikesh and is accessible by foot.

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Omkareshwar Temple Jyotirlinga

Omkareshwar Temple Jyotirlinga

Omkareshwar Temple is situated on the mountain Mandhata by the banks of Narmada River in the Malva area in Madhya Pradesh. Omkareshwar Temple is one of the 12 revered Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. The temple is closely linked with Mammaleshwar Temple (situated on the south of river Narmada) as both the forms of Shiva have been counted as one.

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Mallikarjun Temple Jyotirlinga

Mallikarjun Temple Jyotirlinga

Mallikarjun Temple is situated on Shri Shaila Mountain by the banks of the Patal Ganga, Krishna River in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Also known as Kailash of the South, Mallikarjuna constitutes one of the 12 Jyotirlingam shrines of Shiva and is one of the greatest Shaivaite shrines in India. The presiding deities of Mallikarjuna Temple are Mallikarjuna (Shiva) and Bhramaramba (Devi). Every year there is a fair organized on account of Mahashivratri.

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Mahakaleshwara Temple Jyotirlinga Ujjain

Mahakaleshwara Temple Jyotirlinga Ujjain

Mahakaleshwara Temple is located by the banks of river Kshipra, in the dense Mahakal forests in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. It is an important Shaivaite pilgrimage centre in North India and is revered as one of the 12 Jyotilinga manifestations of Shiva. 

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Somnath Temple Jyotirlinga

Somnath Temple Jyotirlinga

Somnath Temple Jyotirlinga is situated at Somnath Patan (the south coast of Saurashtra), near Veraval in (Prabhas Kshetra) Kathaiwad district in Gujarat. Somnath is considered to be the first of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva and is a revered pilgrimage center in India.

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Twelve Jyotirlinga Lord Shiva

Twelve Jyotirlinga Lord Shiva

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

Number Jyotirlinga Image State Location Description

1) Somnath
Gujarat
Prabhas Patan, Saurashtra
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.

2) Mallikārjuna
Andhra Pradesh
Kurnool
Mallikārjuna, also called Śrīśaila, is 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]

3) Mahakaleshwar
Madhya Pradesh
Mahakal, 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 (where the Shiv Lingam sits).

4) Omkareshwar
Madhya Pradesh
Island in the Narmada River
Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh on an island in the Narmada River is home to a Jyotirlinga shrine and the Mamaleshwar temple.

5) Kedarnath
Uttarakhand
Kedarnath
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.

6) Bhimashankar
Maharastra
Bhimashankar
Bhimashankar is very much debated. There is a Bhimashankara temple near Pune in Maharastra, which was referred to as Daakini country, Kashipur was also referred to as Daakini country in ancient days. A Bhimashkar Temple is also present there which is also known as Shree Moteshwar Mahadev. Another Bhimashankar is in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra. Bhimshankar temple near Guwahati, Assam is the jyotirlinga according to Sivapuran. According to "LINGA PURAN", Bhimasankar temple in Bhimpur near Gunupur of Rayagada Dist in South Orissa is also debated as one of the Jyotirling, which is situated at the western part of the holy Mahendragiri mountains and at the river bank of Mahendratanaya(which is also believed as the Daakini area by many historian), was excavated in the year 1974, having quadrangular Shakti around the Linga and decorated by a Upavita as per the puran.

7) Kashi Vishwanath
Uttar Pradesh
Varanasi
Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh is home to the Vishwanath Jyotirlinga shrine, which is perhaps the most sacred of Hindu shrines.

8) Trimbakeshwar
Maharashtra
Trimbakeshwar, Near Nashik
Trimbakeshwar Temple, near Nasik in Maharashtra, is a Jyotirlinga shrine associated with the origin of the Godavari river.

9) Vaidyanath
Jharkhand
Deoghar district
Vaidyanath jyotirlinga temple also called Baidyanth Temple is in the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkhand. It is the only place in India where the jyotirlinga and the saktipeeth are together. They lay side by side. Baijnath Shivdham in Kangara Himachal Pradesh also claimed as Jyotirlinga of Vaidyanath also associated with Ravana.

10) Nageshvara
Gujarat
Daruka Vana, Dwarka
Nageshvara Jyotirlinga shrine in Daruka Vana. The location of this jyotirlinga is in dispute with Dwarka in Gujarat and Aundha Nagnath in Hingoli district of Maharashtra claiming to be the correct location. Jageshwar is a place in Almora, Uttarakhand, where there is a temple called Jageshwar also claims to be Nageswar Jyotirlinga.

11) Ramalingeswarar
Tamil Nadu
Rameswaram
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]

12) Grishneshwar
Maharashtra
Near Ellora, Aurangabad district
Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga shrine, in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, is located near the rock-cut temples of Ellora. This shrine is also known as Ghushmeshwar.

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Jyotirlinga

Jyotirlinga

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 that Lord 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.

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