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.

The twelve Jyotirlingas in India

The names and the locations of the 12 "Jyotirlinga"s are mentioned in the Shiva Purana (IAST|Śatarudra Saṁhitā,Ch.42/2-4). " SOURASHTRE SOMNATHAM CH SRISAILE MALLIKARJUNAM, UJJAINYAM MAHAKALAM CH OMKAR MAMLESHWARAM, PARALYAM VAIDYANATHAM CH DAKINYA BHIMASHANKARAM, SETUBANDHETU RAMESHAM NAGESHAM DARUKAVANE, VARANASYATU VISHWESHAM TRIYAMBAKAM GAUTAMI TATE, HIMALAYETU KEDARAM GHRISHNESHAM CH SHIVALAYE" 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.
#, also called IAST|Śrīśaila, is the name of the pillar located on a mountain on the river Krishna. [For IAST|Mallikārjuna (IAST|Śrīśaila) as one of the twelve "Pillars of Light" see: Harvnb|Chakravarti|1994|p=140.] 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.Fact|date=July 2007
# 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).
# Mamleshwar,Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh on an island in the Narmada river is home to a Jyotirlinga shrine and the Mamaleshwar 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 Bhimasura. There is also a Bhimashankara temple at [http://www.kashipur.in 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.
# Baidyanath in Deoghar, [Jharkhand] & Parli,(Maharashtra) 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
# 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 IAST|Rameśvara ("Lord of Rama") pillar. [For IAST|Rameshvara as one of the twelve "Pillars of Light", see: Harvnb|Chakravarti|1994|p=140.]
# Ghrishneshwar Jyotirlinga shrine, in Aurangabad Maharashtra, is located near the rock-cut temples of Ellora. This shrine is also known as Ghushmeshwar.

ee also

*
* Shiva

Notes

References

*Harvard reference
last=Chakravarti
first=Mahadev
year=1994
title=The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through The Ages
place=Delhi
publisher= Motilal Banarsidass
edition=Second Revised
isbn=81-208-0053-2

External links

* [http://www.jyotirlinga.com Virtual Lord Shiva Darshan and pilgrimage with videos and images]
* http://www.trambakeshwar.com
* [http://www.dhyansanjivani.org/jyothirlinga_shrines.asp More info on Lingams]
* [http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110237/Religion/Hindus/Hindu_Festivals/Shivratree/shivratree.html Mauritiuseswar Jyotirlinga outside India]
* [http://www.shreemaa.org/drupal/node/928 Learn about the Jyotirlingams]
* [http://www.12jyotirlinga.com 12 jyotirlinga with story loard shiv mahadev in india]