[1]
Saurashtre Somanatham ch,
[2]
Sri Saile Mallikarjuna
[3]
Ujjanyinyam Mahakalam
[4]
Omkare Malamleshwara
[5]
Paralyam Vaidyanatham cha
[6]
Dakinyam Bhimashankara
[7]
Sethu bande Ramesham
[8]
Nagesham Darukavane
[9]
Varanasyam cha Vishweshwam
[10]
Tryambakam Gautameetate
[11]
Himalaye to Kedaram
[12]
Grishnesam cha Shivalaya ;
"एतानि ज्योतिर्लिङ्गानि, सायं प्रातःपठेत नर, सप्त जन्मा कृतम पापम् ,स्मरणेन विनश्यति !"
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.
[1]
Somnatha Temple [Saurashtre
Somanatham cha]
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 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.
[2]
Mallikarjuna [Sri
Saile 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.
[3]
Mahakala [Ujjanyinyam
Mahakalam]
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.
[4]
OMKARSHWARA [Omkare Malamleshwara]
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.
[5]
VAIDYANATHA [Paralyam Vaidyanatham cha]
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.
[6]
BHIMSHANKAR TEMPLE [Dakinyam Bhimashankara]
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.
[7]
Ramanatha Swamy Temple Rameshwaram [Sethu
bande Ramesham]
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.
[8]
Nagesha Linga [Nagesham
Darukavane]
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. His
Holiness Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji of Mysore
worshiping
 
[9]Vishvanatha temple [Varanasyam
cha Vishweshwam]
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 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.
[11]
Kedarnatha [Himalaye
to Kedaram]
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.
[12]
Grishneswara
[Grishnesam
cha Shivalaya]
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.
Aum
Namashivaya
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