Jyotirling Yatra with Tirupati & Shirdi

Somnath: Somnath is located at Prabhas Patan in Saurashtra in Gujarat.

Rameshwaram: This vast temple in the island of Rameswaram, in South of Indai enshrining Ramalingeswarar.

Srisailam: Lacated in Kurnool in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the temple enshrines Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple rich in architectural and sculptural wealth.

Ghrishneshwar: The origin of the river Godavari is intimately linked with this Jyotirlinga shrine near Nasik in Maharashtra.

Ujjain: The ancient and historic city of Ujjain or Avanti in Madhya Pradesh is home to the Jyotirlinga shrine of Mahakaleshwar

Varanasi: The most celebrated pilgrimage city, the cultural capital of India. The Vishwanath temple in Banaras in Uttar Pradesh is the goal of the thousands of pilgrims for the ultimate salvation

Dwarka : Nageshwar just 16 km from Dwarka in Gujarat is considered tenth Jyotirlinga in the Dwadash Jyotirlinga circuit

Bhimsankar: Bhimsankar is located in the Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra, accessed from Pune.

Trimbakeshwar: The origin of the river Godavari is intimately linked with this Jyotirlinga shrine near Nasik in Maharashtra.

Omkareshwar: Omkareshwar, an island in the course of the river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, is home to the Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga shrine and the Amareshwar temple.

Vaidyanath: Vaidyanath is located in the Santal Parganas area of Bihar.

Bhimashankar: Bhimashankar Shrine, is located on a high peak, at the origin of river Bhima. The temple houses the main 'Shani temple'. Dating back to mid 18th century, the shikhara was built by Nana Phadnavis. The impact of Nagara style of architecture can be well seen in its construction.

Legend Behind The Temple :

Bhimashankar: Bhima was an asura, son of Kumbakarnan & Karkadi. On hearing that his grandfather, uncles & father had been killed by a Brahmin & kings, he set out to destroy them. He undertook severe penance & got immense might and power from Lord Brahma. Due to Immense power he impriosned King Priyadarman of Kamarupa. Priyadarman & his wife Dakshinadevi prayed sincerely to Lord Siva every day. Fearing that they would overcome him, Bhima asked them to stop their prayers. When they refused, he set out to kill them. Lord Siva rose out of the Lingam that they had been worshipping & slayed Bhima. On the request of the Devas, Lord Siva resides here under the name Bhimashankarar

Tryambakeshwar : Tryambakeshwar temple is built of black stone in the Nagara style of architecture and is enclosed in a spacious courtyard. On the entrance a small temple of Nandi comes first. The sanctum internally a square and externally a stellar structure houses a small Shivalingam – Tryambaka Legend has it that Gowtama muni resided on the Bhramagiri hill here with his wife Ahalya, and by virtue of his devotion, he received a bottomless pit from Varuna from which he received an inexhaustible supply of grains and food. The other rishis, jealous of his fortune, arranged for a cow to enter his granary, and caused it to die, then Gowtama attempted to ward it off with a bunch of Darbha grass Gowtama now worshipped Shiva, to bring the Ganga down to his hermitage to purify the premises. The Ganga came down as Godavari, and Shiva took up an abode here in the form of Tryambaka. All the heavenly Gods promised to come down to Nasik, once in twelve years, when Jupiter resides in the zodiac sign of Leo.

Grishneshwar /Ghushmeshwar: There once lived a pious brahmin & his wife. He was a great devotee of Siva. He was not blessed with a son. At the persuasion of his family, he got married to Kusuma, in order to give him a son. Kusuma was an even greater devotee of Lord Siva. Every day she would make one Siva Linga, worship it and then immerse it in the temple tank. Soon she was blessed with boy baby. The first wife was seeting with jealousy & ill treated Kusuma. Putting all her faith in the Lord, Kusuma bore all the sufferings humbly. When the boy grew older, they planned his wedding. The jealous first wife, killed the boy with an axe. Kusuma was deeply grieved, yet did not stop her daily worship of Lord Siva. She continued to make the Lingam, worshipped & immersed it in the tank. To the surprise of one and all, her son rose out of the water one day, coming back to life. Lord Siva apperaed before them & blessed them. He declared that he would give darshan to devotees in his Jyotir Linga swarupam at the same spot where Kusuma immersed the Lingams.

Omkareshwar / Mamleshwar: The Omkareshawar temple is built in the North Indian style of architecture, with high spires, on the mountain Mandhata by the banks of Narmada River (in the Malva area in Madhya Pradesh) Devotees consider worship to Panchamuga Ganesha, to be very auspicious. The significance of this linga is that the linga is not situated below the cupola. The idol of Lord Shiva is situated on the top of the temple. It is said that once, sage Naradar during his visit to the Vindyas, sang the praise of mount Meru to Mount Vindhya. On hearing this, Mount Vindhya practiced severe penances and worshipped to Lord Siva to gain in importance. Lord Siva blessed him & appeared here as Omkareshwarar & Amaleshwarar and gave the boon of grwoing, but without hindering Siva devotees. But the Vindhyas did not stop growing, and even obstructed the sun and the moon. Sage Agasthyar subdued its growth by saying it should not grow till he gets back there. He never went back & hence the growth was arrested

Mahakaleshwar: The temple of Lord Mahakaleshwar is very big, beautiful and grand. The Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is situated below the ground in a Garbha Griha. This Jyotirlinga is big in size and is encircled by a silver snake. On one side of the Shiv Linga there's the idol of Lord Ganesha and on the other side the idol of Parvati and Kartikeya There once lived a brahmin in Avanti, who had four sons, who were great devotees of Lord Siva. Dushanan, a demon was giving trouble, disturbing all good & religious activities. The brahmins from all over the land gathered with the four sons & performed pooja to Lord Siva. The spot where they had taken mud to make the Lingam, had become a huge pond. When Dushanan came to disturb their pooja, Lord Siva rose from this pond as Mahakaleshwarar & destoryed Dushanan. On the request of the brahmins, Lord Siva gave darshan to devotees at this sthalam, one of the Jyotir Linga sthalams

Somnath: The Somnath temple is dedicated to Someshwara, another name of Lord Shiva with moon on his head. The temple is situated in Saurashtra. It is believed that Somraj, the Moon God himself had originally built the temple out of gold Chandran (moon God) fell in love with Rohini, one of the daughters of Daksha. Daksha Prajapati had 27 daughters (Ashwini, Bharani, Kritika, Rohini …) But Dakshan wanted to give all his daughters in marraige to one able & loving person, who would treat all his daughters equally. Chandran got married to all, but his love for Rohini was too great & the other daughters complained to their father. Dakshan cursed Chandran to dwindle in power & beauty. When Chandran begged forgiveness, Dakshan said that only prayers to Lord Siva could free him of the curse. Chandran came to Somanath & prayed to Lord Siva, doing penance for about 4,000 years. Lord Siva appeared & said that he could not fully absolve him of the curse. Instead, he would wane in 15 days, but would grow again. This is the story said for the waxing & waning of the moon, producing new moon & full moon

Rameshwaram: The temple at Rameshvaram, besides being considered a Dhama, is also one of the twelve sacred Jyotir Linga sites. Rameshvaram Jyotirlinga is situated on the peninsular tip of Rameshvaram, The temple of Rameshwar is very big and grand. There are many other idols of Shiva and other gods other than the main lingam. There is a big idol of Nandi, the vehicle of Shiva Those who go to Rameshwar Jyotirlinga and seek Lord Shiva's blessings always live in Shivloka. After Killing Ravana, Lord Rama worshipped the jyotirlingam to atone the sin of killing Ravana, a Get Pandit of all times, Rama therefore was seeking a jyotirlinga for the worship. Hanuman flew to bring the Linga from Kailasa, for Lord Rama to wroship. As it was getting late, Rama worshipped the Lingam that was made of sand by Sita Devi. This Lingam worshipped by Lord Rama is known as Ramanathar. When Hanuman returned he was disappointed that his Lord had not used the Lingam that he had brought. Lord Rama pacified Hanuman & named this Lingam Kasi Viswanathar. Also known as (Kasilingam and Hanumalingam). Devotees have to worship Kasi Viswanathar before worshipping Ramanathar.

Srisailam: The temple of Lord Mallikarjuna is situated in the town of Srisailam on the banks of River Patalganga Krishna, in the state of Andhra Pradesh The temple sculptures narrate in stone, epics from the great Hindu epics-Ramayana and Mahabharata.This temple is considered very holy and is dedicated to Mallikarjuna Swamy and Bhramaramba. One unique feature of the temple is that all the devotees who visit the temple are allowed to touch the idol which is not prevalent in any other temple. The temple is built in Dravidian style When Siva and Parvathi decided to find suitable brides for their sons, Ganesha and Muruga argued as to who is to get wedded first. Lord Siva bade that the one who goes round the world in Pradakshinam (take circle of the world) could get married first. By the time Lord Muruga could go round the world on his vahana, Lord Ganesha went round his parents 7 times (for according to Sastras, going in pradakshinam round one's parents is equivalent to going once round the world (Boopradakshinam). Lord Siva got Siddhi & Buddhi, the daughtersof Viswaroopan married to Lord Ganesha. Muruga on his return was enraged and went away to stay alone on Mount Kravunja in the name of Kumarabrahmachari. On seeing his father coming over to pacfy him, he tried to move to another place, but on the request of the Devas, stayed closeby. The place where Lord Siva and Parvathi stayed came to be known as Sri Sailam. Lord Siva visits Lord Muruga on Amavasai day & Parvathi Devi on Pournami.

Baidyanath Dham / Vaidyanatham: The legend of Vaidyanathan goes something like this. The demon lord from the Ramayan, the devout Ravana meditated hard in order to invoke Lord Shiva, and requested him to come over to Sri Lanka, in order that his capital may become invincible. It is said that he attempted to lift the holy mountain, Lord Shiva's abode, Mount Kailash and take it with him to his capital; however Shiva crushed him with his finger, and Ravana prayed to him and sought his mercy, after which Shiva gave him one of the twelve Jyotirlingams with the condition that if it was placed on the ground it would take root immediately and hence Ravana had to carry it back on his trek to his capital. Varuna the God of water, entered Ravana's belly, and caused him to feel the need to relieve himself. Vishnu then came down in the form of a lad and volunteered to hold the Jyotirlingam as he relieved himself. But before Ravana could return, the young lad placed the jyotirlingam on the ground to which it became rooted. A disappointed Ravana offered severe penances to Shiva here, and cut off nine of his heads as a part of his repentance. Shiva revived him and joined the heads to the body, like a Vaidya or a physician, hence this Jyotirlingam goes by the name Vaidyanath. The same legend holds at Gokarnam in Karnataka.

Kashi VishwaNath: Kasi is amongst the holy spots for visit by the Hindus. It is believed that a visit to Kasi ensures liberation & hence pious Hindus seek a visit during their lifetime. The Lord himself has declared this spot as his Royal residence. Goddess Parvathi's mother felt ashamed that her son-in-law had no decent dwelling. To please Parvathi Devi, Siva asked Nikumbha to provide him with a dwelling place at Kasi. On the request of Nikumbha, Aunikumbha a brahmin made Divodas construct a temple for the Lord here. The pleased Lord granted boons to all his devotees. But Divodas was not blessed with a son. The angered Divodas demolished the structure. Nikubha cursed that the area would be devoid of people. When the place was emptied Lord Siva once again took residence here permanently. The Lord along with Parvathi Devi once again started blessing his devotees with wonderful boons. Parvathi Devi was so pleased that she offered food (annam) to one and all and hence is worshipped as Annapoorani. The Lord himself is seen with a bowl in his hands asking for annam from the seated Devi at the Devi's shrine adajacent to Viswanathar's shrine.