12 Jyotir Lingas of Siva

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" 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.

 

 

MAHANKAL

 

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.

 

 

Omkareshwar

 

 

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.

 

Kedarnath

 

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.

 

Kedarnath

 

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

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.

 

Ravana

 

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.

 

Nagesha

 

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.

 

 

Rameshwaram - 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