Jyotirlinga temples

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

As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of saving) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation.^[1] To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded 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 partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.^[2][3] Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy.^[1] Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva.^[4] At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.^[4][5][6] The twelve jyothirlinga areSomnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas,Bhimashankar in Maharastra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharastra, Vaidyanath at Deogarh in Jharkand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat,Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharastra.^[1][7][edit]Legend

[edit]Twelve Jyotirlingas

#	Jyotirlinga	Image	State	Location	Description
1	Somnath		Gujarat	Prabhas Patan,Saurashtra	Somnath is the first amongst the holy shrines and traditionally, the Dwadash Jyotirlinga pilgrimage begins with the Somnath Temple. It is the prime abode of Lord Shiva and is considered to be holiest of all the Jyotirlingas. The temple was destroyed and re-built sixteen times, is held in reverence throughout India and is rich in legend, tradition, and history. It is located at Prabhas Patan (Somnath - Veraval) inSaurashtra in Gujarat.
2	Mallikārjuna		Andhra Pradesh	Srisailam	Mallikārjuna, also called Śrīśaila, is located on a mountain on the river Krishna.[8] Srisailam, in Kurnool District in Andhra Pradesh enshrines Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple that is architecturally and sculpturally rich.It is one place where Shakti peeta and Jyotirlingam are together. Adi Shankaracomposed 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 theNarmada River,Omkareshwar	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-cladHimalayas, is an ancient shrine, rich in legend and tradition. It is accessible only by foot, and only for six months a year.
6	Bhimashankar		Maharashtra	Bhimashankar	Bhimashankar is very much debated. There is a Bhimashankara temple near Pune (pictured) in Maharastra, 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. Bhimshankar temple near Guwahati, Assam is the jyotirlinga according to Sivapuran. According to "LINGA PURAN", 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(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	Vaidyanath	The location of Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga is also debated. Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga also called Baidyanth Temple is in the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkhand. It is the another place in India where the jyotirlinga and the saktipeeth are together. They lay side by side. Baijnath Shivdham inKangra district of Himachal Pradesh and Parli Vaijyanath in the Beed district of Maharashtra also claim as Jyotirlinga of Vaijyanath also associated with Ravana.This is located at Gokarna in Karnataka
10	Nageshvara		Gujrat	near dwarika	Nageshvara Jyotirlinga shrine in Daruka Vana. The location of this jyotirlinga is in dispute withJageshwar (pictured) near Almora in Uttarakhand, and Aundha Nagnath in Hingoli district ofMaharashtra, all claiming to be the correct location;
11	Rameshwar		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.[9]
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.