Lord Shiva also known as “Mahadev” is one of the tri gods in the Hindu Mythology. His blessing alone is capable of providing peace, harmony and happiness to humans. Lord Shiva is also known as Bholenath, Neelkanth, Nataraja etc. He is mainly worshipped as Jyotirlingas. 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva are situated in India.
Let’s know about them :-
Somnath Jyotirlinga
It is believed that this is the first Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva. According to Shiv Puran, Moon god built it himself. He was cursed by Prajapati Daksh so to overcome this curse he started the penance of Lord Shiva. This jyotirlinga is situated in Gujarat near Kathiyawad across the Arabian Sea.
Mallikarjun Jyotirlinga
It is popularly known as “Kailash of the South“. It is believed that just by the sight of the Shivling, all the problems and fear in the lives of humans would vanish completely and is situated in Andhra pradesh on the banks of Krishna river on the Shrishail mountain.
Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga
Who doesn’t know the world famous “Bhasm Aarati” of Mahakaleshwar temple. It is the only south facing Jyotirlinga and is a famous temple across the world. It is believed that Lord Shiva manifested from the earth and turned all the demons to ashes (Bhasm). The Gods requested him to stay so he stayed in the form of Jyotirlinga. It is situated in Ujjain across the banks of Shipra river.
Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga
It is situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh of India in the small island in the Narmada river named Shivpuri. It is believed that, When demons defeated the gods they came here and worshipped Lord Shiva. He became happy with their devotion and defeated all the demons. After that he stayed at the place in the form of Jyotirlinga.
Kedarnath Jyotirlinga
There is no one who doesn’t know about the Kedarnath Temple. Without the sight of the temple the journey of Badrinath Dham is believed to be ineffective and incomplete. It is believed that the incarnation of Lord Vishnu “Nar and Narayan Sage” did a penance of Lord Shiva. To which Lord Shiva became happy and stayed there forever in the form of Jyotirlinga.
Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga
This temple is popularly known as “Moteshwar Mahadev”. It is situated in the state of Maharashtra, in a place called Sahyadri which is 110 Km away from Pune. According to Shiv Puran, When Lord Shiva defeated the demon Bheem, the gods requested Lord Shiva to stay and he stayed there in the form of Jyotirlinga.
Vishwanath Jyotirlinga
This Jyotirlinga is known as the second permanent place after Kailash where Lord Shiva is situated in the form of Jyotirlinga. It is situated in Kashi, the “Dharmanagri” in Uttar Pradesh across the banks of River Ganga.
Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga
According to Shiv Puran, Gautam Sage and Godavari prayed to Lord Shiva. He accepted their prayer and established himself in the form of Jyotirlinga. This temple is located 30 Km west of Nashik of Maharashtra.
Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga
According to Hindu Mythology, The demon Ravana, who was the biggest devotee of Lord Shiva, who compelled Lord Shiva to come to Lanka with him. When he was taking Lord Shiva in the form of Linga. Due to some circumstances he put Jyotirlinga on the ground. Since then Lord Shiva established there in the form of Baba Vaidyanath. The temple is situated in Deoghar in Jharkhand.
Nageshwar Jyotirlinga
According to Hindu Mythology, Lord Shiva is also known as “Nageshwar” meaning The God of Snakes. The Jyotirlinga is situated in the Gomati Dwarka of Vadodara in Gujarat. It is believed that Mahadev himself gave the name to this place.
Rameshwar Jyotirlinga
If you have read the great “Ramayan ” in which God Rama is going to Lanka to take his wife Goddess Sita, who was kidnapped by the demon Ravana. There is a phase where they reached the seashore and the Lanka-territory of Ravana is on the other side. So, before they started invading Ravana territory, he worshipped Mahadev and established a Jyotirlinga at the place. God Rama himself named it as Rameshwaram. The Jyotirlinga is located at a place called Ramanatham
Ghushmeshwar Jyotirlinga
Ghushama-a devotee of Mahadev, requested him to stay for the welfare of his devotee. God Shiva, established himself as a Jyotirlinga. The place is known with the name of the devotee “Ghushama” and hence it is known as Ghushmeshawar meaning the “God of Ghushama”. This Jyotirlinga is situated near the Daulatabad of Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra.
The Jyotirlingas of Mahadeva situated at the temples have a unique scientific side also. If you wanna know about the Jyotirlingas then click on Shivling- An Ancient Science.
