A Jyotirlinga or Jyotirling or Jyotirlingam (Sanskrit: ) is a devotional object representing the god Shiva.

Jyoti means 'radiance' and lingam the 'mark or sign' of Shiva, or a symbol of the pineal gland; Jyotir Lingam thus means the The Radiant sign of The Almighty. There are twelve traditional Jyotirlinga shrines in India. It is believed that Lord Shiva first manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Aridra 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.

As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of Preservation) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation.[1] To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.[2][3] Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy.[1] Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva.[4] At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.[4][5][6] The twelve jyothirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga at Jharkhand, Aundha Nagnath at Aundha Nagnath in Maharashtra, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Ghushmeshwar at Shiwar in Sawai Madhopur district Rajasthan, 12th joytrilinga is Grishneshwar at ellora in aurangabad district Maharashtra.[1][7]
# Jyotirlinga Image State Location Description

Somnath

Gujarat

Somnath is traditionally considered the first pilgrimage site: the Dwadash Jyotirlinga pilgrimage begins with the Somnath Prabhas Patan, Temple. The temple, that was destroyed and re-built sixteen Saurashtra times, is held in reverence throughout India and is rich in legend, tradition, and history. It is located at Prabhas Patan (Somnath - Veraval) in Saurashtra in Gujarat.

Mallikrjuna

Andhra Pradesh

Srisailam

Mallikrjuna, also called raila, is located on a mountain on [8] the river Krishna. Srisailam, in Kurnool District in Andhra Pradesh enshrines Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple that is architecturally and sculpturally rich.It is one place where Shakti peeta and Jyotirlingam are together. Adi Shankara composed [citation needed] his Sivananda Lahiri here. . It is also one of the Padal Petra Stalam of Vada Naadu mentioned in Thevaaram. 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 and also the temple to have a Shree Yantra perched upside down at the ceiling of the Garbhagriha (where the Shiv Lingam sits).It is one place where Shakti peeta and Jyotirlingam are together

Mahakaleshwar

Madhya Pradesh

Ujjain

Omkareshwar

Madhya Pradesh

Island in the Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh on an island in the Narmada Narmada River, River is home to a Jyotirlinga shrine and the Mamaleshwar Omkareshwar temple. Kedarnath in Uttarakhand is revered as the northernmost and the closest Jyotirlinga to Lord Shiva's eternal abode of Mount Kailash. Kedarnath forms a part of the smaller Char Dham pilgrimage circuit of Hinduism. Kedarnath, nestled in the snowclad Himalayas, is an ancient shrine, rich in legend and tradition. It is accessible only by foot, and only for six months a year. It is also one of the Padal Petra Stalam of Vada Naadu mentioned in Thevaaram. Bhimashankar is very much debated. There is a Bhimashankara temple near Pune (pictured) in Maharashtra, which was referred to as Daakini country, but Kashipur in Uttarakhand was also referred to as Daakini country in ancient days and a Bhimashkar Temple known as Shree Moteshwar Mahadev is present there. Another Bhimashankar is in the Sahyadri range [9] of Maharashtra. The Bhimashankar temple near Guwahati, Assam is the jyotirlinga according to Sivapuran.

Kedarnath

Uttarakhand Kedarnath

Bhimashankar

Maharashtra Bhimashankar According to "LINGA PURAN", Bhimasankar temple in Bhimpur near Gunupur of Rayagada district in South Orissa is also believed as Bhimasankar Jyotirlinga, which is situated at the western part of the holy Mahendragiri mountains and at the river bank of Mahendratanaya(which is also believed as the Daakini area by many historian), was excavated in the year 1974, having quadrangular Shakti around the Linga and [10] decorated by a Upavita as per the puran.

Visheakarmeshwar

Uttar Pradesh

Varanasi

Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh is home to the Vishwanath Jyotirlinga shrine, which is perhaps the most sacred of Hindu shrines. It is also one of the Padal Petra Stalam of Vada Naadu mentioned in Thevaaram. The temple is situated in Varanasi the holiest existing place of Hindus, where at least once in life a Hindu is expected to do pilgrimage, and if possible, also pour the remains of cremated ancestors on the River Ganges. The temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganges, and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. It the holiest of all Shiva temples. The main deity is known by the name Vishwanath or Vishweshwara meaning Ruler of the universe. The temple town, which claims to be the oldest living city in the world, with 3500 years of documented history, is also called Kashi and hence the temple is popularly called Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

Trimbakeshwar

Maharashtra

Trimbakeshwar Temple, near Nasik in Maharashtra, is a Trimbakeshwar, Jyotirlinga shrine associated with the origin of the Godavari Near Nashik river. Baidyanath Jyotirlinga temple is located in Deoghar District in Jharkhand . In the month of Shravana millions of devotee visit the temple.Bholebaba darshan during Shravan month attracts devotees from across India and overseas.

9a

Baidyanath Jyotirlinga

Jharkhand

Deoghar

It is believed that once Ravan worshipped Shiva for years and requested his god ( Shiva) to come to Lanka . Shiva manifested as shivaling and asked Ravan to not to put down anywhere until he takes it to Lanka. Vishnu intercepted Ravana in between and convinced him to keep it for sometime. Since then shiva resides as Baidyanath in Deoghar.

9b Parli Vaijnath

Maharashtra Parli

Vaijnath Jyotirlinga temple is located in Beed District in Maharashtra .

10a Aundha Nagnath

near Hingoli Maharashtra previously Parbhani Dist.

Aundha Nagnath is supposed to be the eighth (adya) of the twelve Jyotirlingas in the country, is an important place of [12] pilgrimage. The present temple is said to have been built by [13] Yadavas of devagiri and dates to 13th century. The first temple is said to be from time of Mahabharata and is believed to have been constructed by Yudhishthira, eldest of Pandava, [14] when they were expelled for 14 years from Hastinapur. It has been stated that this temple building was of seven-storyed [15] before it was sacked by Aurangzeb. Nageshvara Jyotirlinga is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned in the Shiva Purana (atarudra Sahit,Ch.42/2-4, referred as "nagesham darukavane"). Nageshvara is believed as the first Jyotirlinga on the earth. There are three major shrines in India which are believed as identical to this Jyotirlinga. Those are the Jageshwar temple near Almora in Uttarakhand state, the Nageshwara temple near Dwaraka in Gujarat state and the Nagnath temple in Aundha in Maharashtra state.

[11]

10b

Nageshvara Jyotirlinga

Gujrat

near Dwarka

11 Rameshwar

Tamil Nadu

Rameswaram

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. It [16] enshrines the Ramevara ("Lord of Rama") pillar. It is also one of the Padal Petra Stalam of Pandya Naadu mentioned in Thevaaram. Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga shrine, at a village called Verul which lies at a distance of 11 km from Daulatabad and 30 km from [Aurangabad]. It lies at a close proximity to the Ellora caves. more information http://www.jyotirlingas.com/grishneshwarjyotirlinga.html Ghushmeshwar Jyotirlinga shrine, at Shiwar, Rajasthan

12a Grishneshwar

Maharashtra Ellora caves

12b Ghushmeshwar

Rajasthan

Shiwar more information http://www.ghushmeshwar.com/

Some of the other major Shiva temples that are not listed as Jyotirlingas are Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir, India , Pashupatinath in Kathmandu, Nepal ,