Jyotirlinga
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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 Shiva first manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Arudra 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
- Somnath is the foremost of the twelve Jyotirlinga Shrines of Shiva. It is held in reverence throughout India and is rich in legend, tradition, and history. It is located at Prabhas Patan in Saurashtra in Gujarat.
- Dwarka in Gujarat is home to the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga temple. However, the term "daruka vane" in the shloka (religious verse) for Nageshwar has also been interpreted for Jageshwar, also situated in the Himalaya. Daruka vane means deodar forest.
- 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.
- 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.
- Bhimashankar, in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra, contains a Jyotirlinga shrine associated with Shiva destroying the demon Tripurasura.
- Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh on an island in the Narmada river is home to a Jyotirlinga shrine and the Amareshwar 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.
- Varanasi (Benares) in Uttar Pradesh is home to the Vishwanath Jyotirling temple.
- Trimbakeshwar, near Nashik in Maharashtra, has a Jyotirlinga shrine associated with the origin of the Godavari river.
- 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.
- Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga shrine, in Maharashtra, is located near the rock-cut temples of Ellora.
- Deoghar, in the Santhal Parganas region of Jharkhand, is home to the Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga temple.