Dear Readers, May be the joy with you,
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.
Before we take a tour of all of them in turn, let us recite the famous
sloka given in the Shiva Purana describing the 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva.
"Saurashtre Somanatham cha, Sri Shaile
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".
1. Somnath Temple
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. Mallikarjun Temple
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. Mahakaleshwar Temple
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. Omkareshwar Temple
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. Kedarnath Temple
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.
6. Bhimashankar Temple
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 of 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. Kashi Vishwanath Temple
Vishwanatha 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 realise 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.
8. Tyambakeshwar Temple
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.
9. Vaidyanath Temple
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.
10. Nageshwar Temple
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.
11. Rameshwaram Temple
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.
12. Grishneshwar Temple
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 nearby. 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.
Now Recite this: -
Aum Namah Shivay; Aum Namah Shivay; Aum Namah Shivay; Aum Namah Shivay; Aum Namah Shivay.
May Lord Shiva fulfill all your wishes!!!!!!
With Blessings from MEHUL - http://www.FB.com/DevonKeDevMahadevExclusive
