“Saurashtre Somanatham cha,
Sri Saile Mallikarjuna.
Ujjanyinyam Mahakalam,
Omkare Malamleshwara.
Himalaye to Kedaram,
Dakinyam Bhimashankara.
Varanasyam cha Vishweshwam,
Tryambakam Gautameethate.
Paralyam Vaidyanatham cha,
Nagesham Darukavane.
Sethu bande Ramesham,
Grishnesam cha Shivalaya”.
This is the famous sloka given in the Shiva Purana describing the 12
jyotirlingas of Shiva.
In Hinduism, the Absolute is known as the Brahman and is formless and
without attributes. But the human being has form and attributes so we
need some form of the Absolute on which we can concentrate. The lingam
which is a rounded, upright stone is used as a symbol of Shiva. Worship
of the lingam is one of the most important aspects of the worship of
Shiva. The word ”lingam” actually means a sign or characteristic. So
the Shiva lingam is a sign of Shiva and helps us to remember him in his
formless aspect. The Shiva lingam is also considered to be the divine
phallus, containing within it the seed of the universe. From it all
life is created. Together with the yoni or seat on which it rests and
which corresponds to the female vulva, the yoni-lingam represents the
union of man and woman, Shiva and Shakti, the cosmic Spirit in union
with the cosmic Prakriti, which brings everything into existence.
There are thousands of lingams all over India but some of them have a
special importance. The most important of these are called jyotirlingas
and they are twelve in number. As given in the sloka, their names are
Somnatha, Mallikarjuna, Mahakala, Omkara, Kedara, Bhimshankara.
Vishvanatha, Tryambaka, Vaidynatha, Nagesha, Rameswara and Ghushnesha.
Most of these are supposed to be self formed or sprouted out of their
own will. A few have been installed by human hands. Every Shiva
worshipper dreams of doing a pilgrimage to all these twelve
jyotirlingas at least once in his lifetime.
We will now take a tour of all of them in turn.
Somnatha is the name of Shiva in the town of the same name situated in
Prabhas Patan in Saurashtra in the state if Gujarat in India. Prabhas
Patan is the place where the Yadava clan fought amongst themselves and
came to an end as per Lord Krishna’s wish.
Somnatha Temple
Somnatha is connected with the story of Daksha’s curse to Chandra or
Soma who is the moon god in Hindu mythology. Daksha was one of the
patriarchs and Soma was his son-in-law. However Daksha took a dislike
of Soma and cursed him that he would wane away to nothing. Soma
appealed to Lord Shiva to save him from this curse. Somnatha is the
place where Soma prayed to Shiva. Shiva decreed that he would not wane
away to nothing but would have only fourteen days of waning after which
he would start waxing for the rest of the month.
Mallikarjuna
Mallikarjuna is the name of Shiva in the town of Sri Sailam near the
town of Kurnool in the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India. The
temple is rich in carvings and architectural wealth. Adi Shankara is
supposed to have composed his great poem called “Shivananda Lahari” at
this temple. The legend concerning this temple is connected with
Karthikeya, the son
of Shiva. He had left Kailasa and gone to stay on a hill in south
India. Parvati was bereft at the departure of her son and begged Shiva
to take her there. Kartikeya refused to let them live on his own hill
so Shiva and Parvati took up their residence on the hill at Sri Saila
from which spot they could pay periodic visits to their beloved son. An
interesting thing here is the sound of buzzing which seems to come from
within the granite wall at the back of the temple. Bees are supposed to
have made their home here but they have never harmed any of the
devotees.
Mahakala
Mahakaleshwar is situated in Madhya Pradesh in the ancient and historic
town of Ujjain or Avanti. It is situated on the river Kshipra which is
one of the four places in which the Kumbha Mela takes place. It is
mentioned in the Bhagavad Purana as being the place where the famous
rishi called Sandeepany had his gurukulam or institute of learning
where all the princes of the land went for their education. In fact
Lord Krishna and his brother Balarama also did their course of studies
in this institution. The temple here is situated beside the cremation
grounds and it is said that the ashes of this cremation ground is taken
for puja in the temple. Shiva is the Lord of destruction and ashes from
the burning ghat signify the ephemeral quality of life.
The legend goes that four Brahmin brother were great devotees of Lord
Shiva and used to worship him daily at that spot. However a demon
wanted to put an end to their worship and went to kill them. The
brothers were confident that their Lord would protect them and
continued their worship undaunted. Suddenly the lingam burst open with
a tremendous sound and Shiva leapt out brandishing the weapons of
destruction. His form was that of Mahakala or the great destroyer in
the form of Time. The demon was burnt to ashes. The brothers begged
Shiva to stay there forever and so he did.
Omkareshwara is situated on an island in the middle of the river
Narmada in Madhya Pradesh. The Shiva is here is also known as
Mamaleshwara. Once the celestial sage Narada had gone on a visit to the
mountain known as Vindhya. The sage knew that the mountain was puffed
up with pride so in his usual bantering fashion he told Vindhya that
the mountain Sumeru was superior to it. Vindhya decided to become the
equal of Sumeru and started doing tapasya to Lord Shiva. When Shiva
revealed himself, Vindhya begged him to remain there all the time so
that it would be the equal of Sumeru. Omkaresha is the place where
Vindhya did tapasya.
Kedarnatha
Kedarnatha is the northernmost of the jyotirlingas and nestles in the
snow clad Himalayas. It is snow bound for six months of the year and
opens only from May to October. The last twelve kilometers of the
journey to Kedarnatha has to be made on foot or pony. During the
last part of their sojourn on earth the five Pandavas
(heroes of the Mahabharata war) and their wife, Draupadi proceeded to
the place in the Himalayas known as Kedarkanda. They went in search of
their favourite deity, Shiva. They thought they saw him and gave chase
but they were unable to catch him. Very soon they were joined by a wild
looking dog and a noble buffalo. They came to realize that the buffalo
was none other than their favourite deity. Once again they tried to
catch it but it ran away. The Pandavas chased the buffalo and at last
each of the brothers managed to catch one part of the animal. To their
consternation it came apart into five pieces in their hands. They threw
the pieces far and wide. Those spots where the pieces fell came to be
known as the panch Kedars or the five Kedars and are important pilgrim
spots in the Himalayas. The hump of the buffalo fell at a most
auspicious spot and came to be known as Kedarnatha. The lingam at
Kedarnatha is in the shape of the hump of a buffalo.
Kedarnatha Lingam
Bhimshankara is situated in the Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra. The
easiest way to go there is via Pune. This is the spot where Shiva is
said to have destroyed the three demons known as Tripurasuras. The
legend connected with this place has to do with one of the brothers of
the demon known as Kumbhakarna who was a brother of Ravana, the demon
king oof Lanka. His son was called Bhima. When he heard of the death of
his father at the hands of Rama, he swore vengeance on all the devotees
of Vishnu (Rama was an incarnation of Vishnu). His first target was the
king called Kamarupa whom he captured and threw into a dungeon along
with his wife. The couple started earnest prayers to Shiva to save
them. When he heard this, Bhima rushed to the dungeon with upraised
sword to kill him. At that moment Shiva split open the lingam and
jumped out of it and killed the demon. The couple begged him to
remain there and hence the lingam here is known as Bhimshankara.
 
Vishvanatha temple
Bhimashankar Temple
Vishvanatha temple is situated on the banks of the holy river Ganga in
Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the most famous temple of
Shiva in India and attracts thousands of pilgrims every year. The
famous Manikaran ghat is the place where countless Hindus have been
cremated. The fires of cremation have never been extinguished here
since time immemorial since dead bodies are being constantly brought
there. Anyone who sits for a few minutes at this ghat will realize the
transitory quality of life and start looking deeper into the meaning of
life. The creator Brahma himself is supposed to have done tapasya
in this spot. It is said that Varanasi will not be destroyed even at
the time of the great deluge when the rest of the world goes into
dissolution. Shiva will raise the city on the point of his trident and
protect it while destruction rages all around.
There is another story connected with this city. Once Shiva and Parvati
had gone to the world of Brahma. He began reciting hymns through all
his five mouths in praise of Shiva. But one of the mouths was making
mistakes and so Shiva, who was a perfectionist where music was
concerned, plucked off the head which was making mistakes. But since
this was a great crime, Shiva found that he could not shake off the
head which had stuck to his back. For many years he went round with the
head on his back. It was only when he went to the holy city of Varanasi
that the head fell off. So Shiva decided that he would stay there in
the form of a lingam. This lingam is called Vishwanatha or the Lord of
the universe. The first humans to worship there were Swaymbhu Manu and
his wife Shatarupa who were the first couple to be created by Brahma.
Tryambakeshwara
Tryambakeshwara is situated on the banks of the Godavari River. In fact
the river has its origin on a hill above the temple. The temple is
about ninety kilometers from the pilgrim city of Nasik in the state of
Maharashtra. The place is associated with the sage Gautama and his wife
Ahalya. They had prayed to Shiva for a long time. At last the Lord
appeared and asked them to choose a boon. He begged Shiva to allow the
Ganga to flow beside his hermitage so that he could bathe in her
purifying waters and expiate for his sin in having killed a cow by
accident. Shiva granted the boon. However Ganga insisted that she would
go there only if Shiva took up his residence there. This was agreed
upon and Shiva stayed there in the form of a lingam. Ganga flowed
beside him and took the name Godavari. To reach the source of the
Godavari one has to climb some hazardous steps up the mountain near the
temple. The steps lead you to a small shrine where water gushes out of
a stone cow’s mouth. One can also trek up the mountain to the top where
the river actually has her source.
The temple of Vaidyanatha is situated in the state of Bihar in the town
of Deogarh. Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, was a great devotee of
Shiva. He practiced intense tapasya in the Himalayas, but still Shiva
failed to appear, So he made a fire and decided to sacrifice all his
ten heads. He started throwing them one by one into the fire. After the
ninth, Shiva appeared and asked him what he wanted. Ravana prayed for
superhuman strength and the restoration of his nine heads. Only Shiva
could grant such a boon for he was Vaidyanatha, the Lord of all
physicians. Shiva also gave him a wonderful jyotirlinga and told him to
take it straight to his capital city of Lanka. He warned him never to
put it down. Ravana started back carrying the radiant lingam. The gods
feared that if he took it to Lanka, he would indeed become invincible
so they sent Ganesha to thwart him. Ganesha took the form of a young
brahmachari and appeared before Ravana just as he felt a terrible urge
to answer the call of nature. Ravana was forced to give the lingam to
the boy who had so providentially appeared before him and warned him
never to keep it down. Hardly had Ravana gone than Ganesha put the
lingam down. When Ravana returned he found no trace of the boy and try
as he would he was unable to budge the lingam which had become rooted
to the spot! This is the lingam which is known as Vaidyanatha.
His Holiness Sri Sri
Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji of Mysore worshiping Nagesha Linga
The tenth jyotirlinga is known as Nagesha and is situated near the
pilgrim city of Dwaraka in Gujarat. There was once a merchant who was a
great devotee of Lord Shiva. During his travels he often had to cross a
forest which was inhabited by a demoness called Daruka who kept
harassing him. He begged Shiva to help him. Shiva came with his snakes
or “nagas” and drove Daruka away. Daruka worshipped Parvati who gave
her another forest to roam about without troubling anybody. The lingam
which was worshipped by the merchant came to be known as Nageshwara,
Lord of serpents. Parvati also took up residence here and is known as
Nageshwari.
Ramanatha Swamy Temple
Rameshwaram
The huge temple of Rameshwaram is situated on the island called
Rameshwaran in the state of Tamilnadu. This spot is the closest bit of
land in India to the island of Sri Lanka. Ravana, the demon king of
Lanka had abducted Sita, the wife of Rama, king of Ayodhya and taken
her to his island fortress. Rama came to rescue her but before he could
cross the straits which separated the mainland from the island of
Lanka, he made a lingam of Shiva and prayed to him to help him rescue
his wife. Shiva appeared and blessed him with all success. Rama
requested Shiva to stay in that spot forever. This is the lingam called
Ramalingeswara and it is one of the most famous places of worship in
India.
Grishneswara
Grishneswara is the twelfth and last of the jyotirlingas. It is
situated close to the famous caves of Ellora. Once there was a Brahmin
called Sudharma who had a wife called Sudeha. They had no children and
so his wife asked him to marry her niece, Ghrishna in order to get a
son. She was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and she made a vow that she
would make one hundred and one lingams of Shiva daily and worship them.
At the end of her puja she would immerse the lingams in the pond near
by. After having completed one lakh of pujas she conceived and got a
lovely baby boy. As can be expected her aunt’s nature changed with the
birth of the child and one day she killed the baby and threw the body
into the pond in which the lingams were immersed. Next morning Ghrishna
got up and started her daily ritual of worshipping Shiva. She refused
to be distracted even when her husband announced the disappearance of
the baby. At the end of her puja, Shiva who was pleased with her
devotion restored the baby to her. When he raised his trident to kill
her aunt, Ghrishna begged him to spare her life and asked for the boon
that he would stay near the pond in the form of a lingam. He agreed and
this lingam is known as Grishneswara.
Devotees of Shiva consider it to be a rare good fortune to be able to
make a visit to all the twelve jyotirlingas in one lifetime.
Aum Namashivaya
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