Of all the Shiva temples the Dwadasa (12) Shiva temples are the most revered. They have been there from time immemorial, though the present day structures were rebuilt by kings, and the benefits of visiting these have been described loftily in many scriptures. In these temples the Shivalingas were not planted by anyone but are Swayambhu Lingas,ie, formed on their own by divine grace. Visiting all the 12 Jyotirlingas is the dream of every Shiva Bhakta. The following are the 12 great ones.
The twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva as as follows as per the Sholaka:
saurāṣṭrē sōmanādhañcha śrīśailē mallikārjunam ।
ujjayinyāṃ mahākālaṃ ōṅkārētvamāmalēśvaram ॥
parlyāṃ vaidyanādhañcha ḍhākinyāṃ bhīma śaṅkaram ।
sētubandhētu rāmēśaṃ nāgēśaṃ dārukāvanē ॥
vāraṇāśyāntu viśvēśaṃ trayambakaṃ gautamītaṭē ।
himālayētu kēdāraṃ ghṛṣṇēśantu viśālakē ॥
ētāni jyōtirliṅgāni sāyaṃ prātaḥ paṭhēnnaraḥ ।
sapta janma kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ smaraṇēna vinaśyati ॥
Somanath Prabhas Patan in Saurashtra, Gujarat.
Mallikarjun Sree Sailam, Andhra Pradesh.
Mahakaleshwar Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.
Omkareshwar Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Kedarnath Kedarnath – Near Badrinath, Uttaranchal.
Bhimashankar Village of Bhavagiri,50 km from Khed, near Pune in Maharashtra.
Vishwanath Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
Tryambakeshwar Near Nasik, Maharashtra.
Vaidyanath Deogarh, Bihar.
Nageshwar Dwarka, Gujarat.
Rameshwarm Rameswaram, Tamilnadu.
Grishneshwar Near Daulatabad / Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
Click to see the map showing the location of the 12Jyotirlingas.
