12 Famous Jyotirlingas of The Lord Shiva

Sawan or Shravan The holy month in India is started, During this month India offers numerous fair and festivals across the country. Every state has its own traditional festivals to celebrate, some of the monsoon festivals are Teej a fasting festival, Nag panchami, then Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtmi. Apart from these festivals, All Mondays of sacred holy month of Shravan is devoted to the worship of great God Lord Shiva. The holy yatra or march of Kanwariya also start during this sacred month and Pilgrims called Kanwariya, reciting Bol Bam can be seen at Land of Shiva and every other holy sites or holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers and at famous 12 Jyotirlingas of lord Shiva. The Holy men of India are also spotted during this month at various temples of Lord Shiva, As they are the true devotees of God of God’s Lord Shiva. Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. The famous 12 Jyotirlingas of God Shiva are spread all over India, Jyothi lingam means, Lord Shiva appeared in the form of light (Jyothi) lingam. Other famous temples of Lord Shiva are Amarnath, Bhojpur Shiva Linga Temple, Amareshwar temple Amarkantak, Murudeshwara, Shankaracharya temple Kashmiri, Lingaraj temple Bhubaneswar, Mukteswara temple, and great Kailasanathar Temple.

Somnath Jyotirlinga:

The Somnath Temple is located in the Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat. Somnath temple,also known as the Shrine Eternal is considered to be the most significant and revered 12 Jyotirlinga temples across India The Protector of Moon God temple is destroyed six times and rebuilt six times,recently it was rebuilt in November 1947. The Aadi Jyotirling Shree Somnath Mahadev temple is dedicated to Someshwara, the Lord Shiva, with moon on his head.

Somnath Jyotirlinga Gujrat

Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga: 

Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple is located at Srisailam in Nallamala hills of Andhra Pradesh. The temple is situated in the town of Srisailam near the banks of Krishna river. Mallikarjun Jyotirlinga is one of the greatest shrines in India and it constitutes one of the 12 Jyotirlingam shrines of Lord Shiva. The temple in hill looks like a great fort and is also known for its treasure of sculptures, There are number of sculptures on the walls appear as a gallery.

Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga Andra-Pradesh

Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga: 

The most famous Mahakaleshwar Hindu temples is situated in the holy and ancient city of Ujjain in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The most lively Shiva Temples of India is located on the side of the Rudra Sagar lake in heart of Ujjain city. Mahakaleshwar idol is also known as dakshinamurti, as its facing the south. This is only temple of lord Shiva among the 12 Jyotirlingas where the idol of Great God is facing the south. The holy temple which is credited with citations in the great works of Poet Kalidasa.

Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Ujjain

Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga: 

Omkareshwar is a famous Jyotirlinga temple located is a holy island of Shivpuri in Maheshwar, Madhay Pradesh. This holy shrine of Lord Shiva is located at the convergence of Kaveri and holy river Narmada. One of the Dwadasa jyotirlingas is spread on the Mandhata hills in Vindhya Mountains of Madhya Pradesh. Shape of the holy island is looks like the holy symbol of Shiva “the Om”. There are two temples Omkareshwar and other one is Amareshwar, The Mamleshwar jyotirling is situated on other side of Narmada river. Narmada river’s hold one of the biggest dams project in India, Sardar Sarovar Dam.

Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga Madhya-Pradesh

Kedarnath Jyotirlinga: 

The kedarnath jyotirlinga temple,one of the holiest Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva is located in Uttarakhand. The holiest pilgrimages for the devout Hindu is situated at the head end of the River Mandakini in the Garhwal Himalayas. Kedarnath temple is not directly accessible by road,a 14 km uphill trek from Gaurikund has to be cross to be reached here. The Temple is one of the four major sites in India’s known as Chota Char Dham, other three are Yamunotri,Gangotri and and Badrinath. Shri Kedarnath temple is open only between the end of April to Kartik Purnima, During the winters, the murtis (idols) from Kedarnath temple are brought to Ukhimath and worshiped there for six months. Image source: admirableindia.com

Kedarnath Jyotirlinga

Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga: 

Bhimashankar Temple Jyotirlinga is situated in the Sahyadri ranges near pune in Maharashtra. The ancient shrine of lord Shiva is one of the most famous pilgrim places in Maharashtra. Bhimashankar jyotirlinga temple is far away from the tumult of the urban life and wrapped in the congregations of the majestic western ghats. Bhimashankar, One of the oldest Shiva temple is surrounded by Buddha style carvings, dense forests of high hill ranges and home to rare species of flora and fauna.

Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga Maharashtra

Vishwanath Jyotirlinga: 

Kashi Vishwanath JyotirLinga temple is located in the oldest city of India, Banaras Uttar Pradesh. Kashi, Banaras now Varanasi is the holiest city of India and fully dedicated to the Lord Vishwanath. The city is situated on the bank of holy river the Gange and considered the most sacred place for Hindus. The Aarti is held in the temple five times in a day, the evening Aarti is called  Ganga Aarti held every evening at Dasashwamedha Ghat.

Vishwanath Jyotirlinga Kashi

Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga: 

The Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga is located at the source of the holy Godavari river in the town of Trimbak, in the Nashik, Maharashtra. The Trimbakeshwar Temple is an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. Triambakeshwar owns spectacular distinction of the Jyotirlinga having three faces exemplifying Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara (Shiva). All other 11 Jyotirlingas have only Shiva lingam.

Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Nashik

Baidyanath Jyotirlinga: 

The Baidyanath dham also known as Baba dham is the most sacred abodes of Shiva. One of the twelve Jyotirlingas is located in Deoghar in the tribal state of Jharkhand. Baba Dham temple located where the heart of Bhagwati Sati had fallen, so this place is also referred as Mahashakti peeth. It is believed that the Baidynath (Vaidyanath) Jyotirlingam in Deogarh is associated with legendary stories of Ravana and Lord Shiva. This shrine is very famous, as Kanwariya Offers holy water of river Gange to the Lord Shiva during the month of shravan.

Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Jharkhand

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga: 

The Nageshwar Jyotirlinga is believed as the first Jyotirlinga on the earth. The great Nageshwar Jyotirlinga is located near Dwarka, in the Gujarat state of India. Nageshvara Jyotirlinga is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines of Lord Shiva mentioned in the Shiva Purana. This Nagaeshwara Jyotirlingam is facing south with the Gomugham facing east. There are three major shrines in India which are believed as identical to this Jyotirlinga, Those are the Jageshwar temple near Almora in Uttarakhand, the Nageshwara temple near Dwaraka in Gujarat, and the Nagnath temple in Aundha in Maharashtra.

Nageswar Jyotirlinga Dwarka

Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga: 

Rameshwaram is a religious town located in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Rameshwaram temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Lord Shiva and its one of the 12 famous Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. Amongst the 12 Lord Shiva Jyotirlinga, Rameshwaram is one of the most sacred shrines of Hindus in India. This place is one of the holiest places in India to Hindus and part of the Char Dham pilgrimage. Rameswara means Lord of Rama,the seventh incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu is believed to have prayed to Shiva here. So this place is considered holy pilgrimage site for both Shaivites and Vaishnavites. The Pamban Bridge of Rameshwaram on the Palk Strait connects Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland India.

Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga

Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga: 

The Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga temple is placed at a close distance of about 11 km from Daulatabad in the neighborhood of Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Grishneshwar temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and near to rock-cut Ajanta Ellora caves. The ancient pilgrimage site revered as the abode of one of the 12 Jyotirlinga manifestation of Lord Shiva. Holy month of Shrawan is filled with devotional fervours for the devotees of Lord Shiva at all Jyotirlinga shrines across India.

Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga Maharashtra

Kashi

In the land of the ‘Om’ - Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga

An island shaped like the most sacred of Hindu symbols, the Om, a mountainous region covered with ancient temples, the sacred Narmada flowing on either side, smoothening the rough rocks into pebbles to be carried away by pilgrims and venerated as Shiva Lingams, Omkareshwar is all that and more.

Home to one of the 12 Jyotirlingams, the island of Omkareshwar is venerated almost as much as the lingam itself. 

There are two main temples at Omkareshwar, one on the mainland and one on the island. The island temple is credited to Mandhata, an ancestor of Rama, who installed the lingam and built the temple. While most consider this one to be the Jyotirling, the place abounds in myth and legend. According to one, this lingam is believed to have split into two and installed itself on the other bank too. According to others, it is the temple of Mamleshwar (also called Amaleshwar or Amareshwar) on the mainland which is older and the real Jyotirling. 

Omkareshwar Temple

Mamleshwar the Jyotirling: 

While the island temple has received much attention in the past and has been renovated recently, the Mamleshwar temple certainly looks much older and more beautiful too. The Mamleshwar temple is also more endearing thanks to the absence of the pandas (priests) who are the most prominent feature of the Omkar Mandhata temple on the island. We visited the Mamleshwar temple at night before the final aarti was performed, and had to literally hunt out a priest to perform abhishek to the lord, and the one we finally found was so thrilled by all the items we had brought for the puja that he happily did the elaborate puja with a smile on his face and asked for money only when we were done.

Omkar Mandhata: 

For a long time, the only way to approach the island was by boat. Now, there are two bridges, one connecting the boat landing area to the Omkar Mandhata temple, the other connecting the two temples — Omkareshwar and Mamleshwar. No vehicles are allowed on the island, so both are only foot bridges. The Narmada which once flowed fast and furious along this stretch is now a tame river, thanks to a dam mired in controversy, of which one gets a wonderful view from the bridge. 

The entire island is a hilly area, and it is these hills which give it the shape of the Om. Just a few steps take us to the temple, which is visible from quite a distance. 

Chitrapat Kshetra

At a lower level, just below the main temple is a small entrance to a cave. Today, the inner parts of the cave are no longer accessible, but at the entrance is an image of the sage who made this cave his home — Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada — the guru of Adi Shankaracharya. It was to this cave that the young Shankara came, having given up his home, seeking the preceptor who would lead him to the light. It is here that he came as a young boy, swimming across the furious waters of the Narmada, and left, a sanyasi with a mission! In spite of the rampant commercialization of Omkareshwar, this small cave has maintained its sanctity, the sanctity that can be felt at once as you enter the cave!

Omkareshwar

The roads are lined with shops, big and small, selling all the paraphernalia of Indian prayer rituals, but the main commodity in these shops is are the Shiva Lingams. It is a belief that every stone found in the Narmada is a Shiva Lingam, and every few yards sits a child or a woman selling stones picked from the depths of the river. Prices start from Rs 21 onwards and especially coveted (and expensive) are the black stones with a white line passing through, which signifies the Upavita, or sacred thread. 

Omkareshwar Parikrama: 

While it is for the temples that most pilgrims visit Omkareshwar, the most interesting thing about the island is the island itself. With its unique shape, the island itself has been venerated, and over centuries, scores of temples have been built on it. The ancients not just built the temples, but also made a path so that one could visit all the temples while circumambulating the entire island. This is called the Omkareshwar Parikrama, and has been recently revived by MP Tourism. 

The Parikrama path starts near the bridge and moves along the Narmada till it joins its tributary, the Kaveri (so called, even though it is the same river, diverging from the main river at the other end of the island), passing through temples old and new, some standing tall and proud, others in ruins, winding its way along the mountains, now climbing to yet another temple, now descending to the bank of the river, finally culminating at the temple consecrated by Mandhata. The well paved road is about nine kms long, and takes, at the most, three and a half hours to cover, including rest stops at the various temples. It is quite an easy trek, considering that my son, who is six and my father-in-law, who is 70, both completed it without too much trouble!

There are many places of interest along the path. The first is the sangam or confluence of the two tributaries of the Narmada. This is, for a change, clean and perfect for a bath. The clear water with rounded pebbles forming the river bed invites us to sink our feet into it and enjoy a relaxed dip, while the more devout pilgrims (few, at the best of times, since it is almost an hour’s walk from the bridge) offer prayers. 

Temple in India

An interesting custom is followed here. Big and small stones are collected from the river and piled up along the bank with prayers to the goddess of the river. One of the villagers there told us that people stacked these stones in the hope that they would be able to build houses as easily as they stacked these stones! We found these stacked up stones not just at the confluence, but all along the river bank, in fact, all over the Parikrama path!

Then there is the Gori Somnath Mandir, an ancient temple where the lingam is a huge one, jet black in colour. Legend tells us that this lingam was once pure white, and that one could see his past life just by standing in front of it. Then came Aurangzeb, and as soon as he appeared in front of the lingam, it turned black! This is one of the few temples in the area still intact to a large extent. Though many of the beautiful sculptures have fallen down, it still stands tall and proud among the ruins of others which have not been as fortunate!

As we climb down the final steps which lead us to the end of the Parikrama, our aching legs yearn for a rest, but we feel fresh inside, and can’t help thinking that we arrived at Omkareshwar to see one of the Jyotirlings, and were appalled with the rampant commercialisation, but returned with so much more, an inner peace that comes from a truly spiritual experience!

How to reach

Omkareshwar is situated about 65 kms from Indore and 256 kms from Bhopal. The road from Indore takes us through the mighty Satpura ranges, and winds its way along the Ghats before opening up into a plain covered with cotton fields and irrigated by the Narmada. The journey from Indore to Ujjain takes a little more than an hour by car and about one-and-a-half hours by bus.

Direction to Omkareshwar

There are plenty of buses available on this route, both, those run by the MPRTDC as well as private ones. They can certainly not be classified as luxury, but they are comfortable and adequate for the short journey. A car hire for the one way trip costs about Rs 1200.

Unearth the Secrets of Talakadu

It is the classical Indian story . A tale told by gods and demons, filled with kings and queens, replete with curses and boons. There is a little bit of history here, blended with some geology and topped with legends and myths. Set on the banks of the River Cauvery in Karnataka, this saga dates back to the 4th century and has certain intriguing elements, defying the very laws of nature.

Talakadu temple

It was a natural curiosity to unearth the secrets of Talakadu that drove us from Bangalore one Sunday morning. It was one of those beautiful moments. The weather was just right. An eagle scooped down and soared away with the same ease. A herd of goats clamored for attention. Flanked by the verdant greenery, we passed fresh dewy fields, lotuses jostling for space in ponds, flitting butterflies and a few scattered hamlets. We saw glimpses of rustic life as various stages of harvest were in progress. The entire scene was an ode to the countryside. We ambled on for a couple of hours on the Mysore Road and took a detour at Maddur, passed Mallavalli en-route to this sacred, historic town.

We were rather unprepared for this. At the first glance, it was just a prosaic picnic spot, overcrowded with swarms of loud local tourists and besieged by persistent guides. Stalls selling local fares were protruding in every corner. We made our way towards the river bed, where the Cauvery flowed at her own pace. It presented an unusual, yet a stark picture. There were huge mounds of sand by the banks of the river, like a beach. With a canopy of tall eucalyptus trees spread out from the sand, it felt like being in the middle of a forest. The dense shrubbery, some lively birds and monkeys dangling between the branches completed the picture.

The mounds of sand were everywhere, like small hillocks, some as high as even 15 meters. It was a steep climb, as the feet sank in with each step. It was an inexplicable sight; nobody could fathom where the heaps of sand came from. The fertile soils of the Cauvery basin seemed to have become fine particles of soft sand by sheer magic. While the answer may be with a geologist, my local guide narrates this legend.

The curse of Talakadu 

Talakadu 

A curse of a woman he says is the cause of this sand blown town, an erstwhile fertile capital of several dynasties that ruled over Karnataka. A tale filled with greed and lust for power. It was the time when Talakadu and Srirangapatna were under the Vijayanagar empire. The death of the last Viceroy, Srirangaraya provoked the Wodeyars of Mysore to declare war. As Srirangapatna fell, the Wodeyar ruler sent his soldiers to covet the jewels of the late Viceroy’s widow, Alamelamma. As she fled from her pursuers, she is supposed to have jumped into the Cauvery, uttering the curses. My guide gets all dramatic as he proclaims the curse…” May Talakadu be always covered with sand and may the kings of Mysore always remain without heirs. “ The locals fear the curse as they say that it has come true. Talakadu is mysteriously engulfed with a sea of sand and the family tree of Mysore rulers show a large number of adopted heirs.

The story moves from being a mere myth to some startling historic discoveries as well. Recent excavations have unearthed temples from these mounds of sand and each dynasty has left their architectural stamp on them.. My guide points out that 30 such temples are still buried underneath the sand dunes as we climb our way to the excavated areas

Unearthed - spirituality under the sands 

Panchlingas

Talakadu is famous for the Panchalingas – the temples dedicated to Lord Shiva called Pathaleshwara, Maruleshwara, Arkeshwara, Vaidyanatheeshwara and Mallikarjuna.Of these, the first two are the oldest, built by the Ganga kings. The locals here say that the Shivalinga in the former is said to change color according to the time of day – from red in the morning to black in the afternoon and white in the night. To us though, in the cool afternoon, it was simply black.

We continued our spiritual quest and reached the Vaidyanatheeshwara temple, the largest of them all, which was built by the Chola rulers. All these temples are neatly thatched and embedded in pits as we climbed down to visit them. Remnants of the bygone era were seen in some scattered stones, broken pillars, an ancient well and even some idols. The Pancha Linga festival is celebrated with much fanfare once in 12 years during the Kartika season, where the temples are allowed for worshipping. The last festival happened in 1993 and the next scheduled late this year. The lost and forgotten township sees throngs of devotees only during this period, while at the rest of times, it remains a desolate spot, with a few picnickers.

Tala and Kadu - More Stories...

Temple

We paused to give our feet a bit of rest and heard the story of Tala and Kada, the two hunters, after whom my guide says, this town in named. One more story, this time, it fuses a bit of religion as well. A sage, Somadutta and his disciples were killed by wild elephants when they were doing their penance. They were said to be reborn as elephants in the same forest. Two hunters, Tala and Kada watched the ritual of the elephants offering prayers to a silk cotton tree. And out of curiosity, axed the tree down, only to find it bleeding. A voice then instructed them to heal the wound with the leaves and the blood miraculously turned milk which immortalized the hunters and the elephants as well. A temple later was built here around the tree, and the place became known as Talakadu.

Temple at Talakadu

We resumed our journey amidst the excavations. Besides the Panchalingas, another magnificent temple stands out. The Keerthinarayana temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, built by the Hoysolas, to celebrate the victory of Talakadu over the Cholas. Scattered stones lie all over the place along with the pillars, stone inscriptions, some carvings. The main temple, intricately carved houses an eight foot tall idol of the deity.

Excavations, they say have unearthed a 12 feet tall stone mandapa along with remnants of Garuda kamba. Work by archaeologists is still in progress here, as we stroll among the many stones, which my guide claims are ‘originals. It looked like each piece of stone was being numbered and the mantapas were being rebuilt to recreate the splendour of the past.

We had walked for more than a couple of hours, deeply engrossed in the continuous banter of our guide. Our feet caved in many a time, as we scaled the steep sand dunes. In the last two hours, we had traveled back to several centuries. We paused for a moment, taking in the sight. The silence was overwhelming. The voices of the past were buried under the layers of sand. We sat there, trying to build castles, but the wings gently swept them down. This, we realized was the destiny of Talakadu -the confluence of the historic and the holy spirit, where myths and legends merged, but were all completely swept away by the blasts from the past.

Getting There

Talakadu is just three hours by road from Bangalore, enroute to Mysore. It is about 130 kms kms from Bangalore, which is the closest airport. You could drive down from the Kanakpura Road or take the good old Mysore Road upto Maddur, past Mallavalli and proceed on the road towards Kollegal. About some 5 kms before the detour for Sivanasamudram Falls, there are sign boards indicating Talakadu, 22 kms to the right. The road is bad in patches and very often, it is long and winding, without any landmarks or signboards.