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.
I am fortunate to have visited all 12 Jyotirlingas.
The twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva as as follows as per the Sholaka:
सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाधञ्च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम् ।
उज्जयिन्यां महाकालं ओङ्कारेत्वमामलेश्वरम् ॥
पर्ल्यां वैद्यनाधञ्च ढाकिन्यां भीम शङ्करम् ।
सेतुबन्धेतु रामेशं नागेशं दारुकावने ॥
वारणाश्यान्तु विश्वेशं त्रयम्बकं गौतमीतटे ।
हिमालयेतु केदारं घृष्णेशन्तु विशालके ॥
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.
3 Strongly Disputed places of 2 Jyotirlingas.
Dispute 1.Because of the words पर्ल्यां वैद्यनाधञ्च parlyāṃ vaidyanādhañcha in the Dwadsa Jyotirlinga Stotra, Parli Maharashtra claims it is the real Vaidyanatha Jyotirlinga. So see Vaidyanatha Parli Maharastra
Dispute 2. The Nageswar Jyotirlinga place is disputed by two other places, apart from Dwaraka mentioned in the list above.
Aundha Nagnath Temple Anudh Maharastra
Jageshwar Dham Temples, Almora Close to Nainital in Uttarakhand. A really beautiful and peaceful place.
I had the good fortune and pleasure of visiting all the 3 disputed places.
Because of the words in the Dwadsa Jyotirlinga Stotra” नागेशं दारुकावने nāgēśaṃ dārukāvanē”. The forest(Vane) mentioned could also be associated with a demoness named Daruka and her husband Daruka, after whom the forest is named. The demoness Daruka, an ardent devotee of Parvati, was granted a boon that allowed her to create and control the forest. She and her husband, Daruka, terrorized the forest and its inhabitants, including Shiva devotees like Supriya. So Shiva appearing to save Supriya and other devotees from the demons, and the Shivalinga that manifested at that spot is now the Nageshvara Jyotirlinga. The other interpretation of Darukavan is Deodar tree forest (Cedrus deodara) so the Siva temple Nainital in Uttarakhand claims it is the real Nageswar Jyotirlinga.
Click to see the map showing the location of the 12Jyotirlingas.
