Lord SHIVA
Lord Shiva is one of in Tridev, Destroyer of Negative
energy soon he will get pleased that’s why he called “BHOLENATH”
( very Innocent). Worshiped by Dev and Danav (demon) a yogi also called by
some people, being “sanasari” (family man) also living like yogi.
Without any ornaments, living in
Mountain of Himalaya ( mountain of Ice), There are 12
Jyothirlingas in Bharath (India). Let us see one by one what is
important of each one ..
1.Sri Sourashtra Somanatha:
Somanth is first Jyothi lingas of 12, its locates in Gujarat Viraval port, also called Prabhas Pattan of Gujarath. Its swayambhu (self-born).On the bank of Arabian Sea western coast of Gujarat. This Jyothirlinga considered as most important in twelve Jyothirlingas, Prabhas-Kshetra called because of Chandra ( moon) got his Radiance from this place.
This place is considered as most important pilgrimage center in India.
Because This is related with Mahabhartha also there is reference Pandavas were
visited this place.
Sthal Purana / how manifested Somanath Joythirlinga :
Somanatha Means “God of Moon” soma means Moon and Natha means Lord,
about this mentioned in Shiva purana and Prabhasa Khanda in Skandha Purana,.
Prajapathi Dhaksha had 12 daughters all were married to Chandra, out of 12
chandra very attracted towrds Rohini , he gives more caring, listening to
Rohini, neglecting by other 11, they complained to Pajapati dhaksha, Dhaksha
told to Chandra treat equally all 12 as wife, but Chandra did not listened to
his Father In law, so Dhaksha got angry cursed Chnadra to lose his effulgence.
(blaze).
By losing his
brightness its impacted on nature with great calamities becoming imbalance in
nature, by seeing bad condition of earth all sages were went to seek help towards Lord Brahma, Lord Brahma
advised to Chandra go and seek help of Lord Shiva because Prabhasa Khsethra
austerities under him . by taking suggestions from Lord Brahma’s all sages and
demigods took Chandra to Prabhas Khsethra .Then they made Shiv-Linga there .
worshiped with water of Saraswathi river and the other holy rivers and left Chandra to perform the
penance.
After doing six months penance for pleasing Lord Shiva appear him awarded him a boon. Chandra requested to Lord shiva to continue his effulgence in any matter, Lord Shiva awarded to Boon Chandra that he would reduce every 15 days, day by day and rise again fifteen days, day by day. They were very happy by hearing this and requested all demigods to Lord Shiva stay that place only and get worshiped by devotes and bless pilgrims who visited there.
Then Shiv-linga
called Somanatha or Someshwara. Chandra built a temple of Gold for Somantha,
and In Treta-Yuga Ravana Rebuilt a temple Of Silver , and In dwapar-yuga Lord
Krishna Rebuilt a Sandalwood temple for Shiva. And In Kali-Yuga King
Vikarmaditya Reconstructed it..
2. Shrishaila Mallikarjuna :
Second JyothirLinga is Shrishaila Mallikarjuna locates
at Shrishailam, Kurnool district ,state of Andra Pradesh. Lord Shiva called as Mallikarjuna
and Parvati devi called as Bramarambika. One of most sacred places for
Hindu, and it called as Kashi also one who visited Shrishailam he will attained
Mukthi (Mokash) as per Records.
Sthal Purana:
Once Lord Shiva and Parvati Devi decided marriage for Karthikeya and Ganesha they put one competition who will comes first by complete round of world he will get married first. As soon as heard this karthikeya went complete the task on his Vahana Peacock , and ganesha waited for minutes and around lord Shiva and Devi Parvati because they themselves as world so , by doing this Ganesha wins this task and married with BUDDHI (Intellectual), RIDDDHI (Wealth), SIDDHI (Enlightenment).
When
Karthikyea returned to Kailash Mountain he got angry and left kailash and came
to Cruvanga Mountain also called Srihailam.
Lord Shiva
Devi Parvathi Both came Shrisahilam mountain to console karthikeya , but he did
not listen them and told he will go to another mountain ,all Deva requested to
Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati to stay there only so, on full moon day Devi
Parvathi visit to see Kumar and Moonless day Lord Shiva visited see him believe
is there.
One of
Shakti Peeta :
In Shrishail Sathis’s Dakshina
Talpa means Right Anklet fell down , here worshiped Devi in the name of
‘Bramarambika Devi’ / ‘Sri Sundari’ and ‘Bhairava’ as ‘sundarandand’.as per
tradition one should worship Maa Shakti and then God Bhairava in Shakti-peetas to
earn Grace. Devi Sri Sundari is so beautiful eyes were not take off from her.
3.UJJAIN MAHAKALESHWAR :
The
Third Joythir-Linga Is Ujjian’s Mahakaleshwar. This Jyothir-Linga Locates Ujjain
the ancient city of Madhya Pradesh. One of seven cities where a soul can Moksha
(salvation).This is full of Holy city. It contains 28 Teerthas and 7
sagara teerthas, whole city has 30
shiva-lingas among them most Important one is Mahakaleshwar Jyothir-linga.
Sthal Purana:
In the city of Ujjain a brhamin lived who had four sons, there were all
devotees of Lord Shiva. Dushan was demon king of that place received boon from
Lord Brahma, and he was using that boon giving trouble for good people. Even he
started attacking on Brahmins also but they were so engrossed in the worship of
lord Shiva that they were not affected at all. But he persisted and kept
attacking on them..
He
made Lord Shiva very angry on this, he continues attacking on Brahmins while
the time of attack earth got cracked and Lord Shiva appeared in the form of
Mahakala. And gave warning to Dushan but he did not listen him, This enraged
Lord Mahakhala and therefore he burnt Dushan ashes with just grunt .
Lord
Mahakala angry did not calm down lord
Vishnu, lord Brahma and other gods
appeared and prayed to lord Shiva to be calm down.
Another Story of Boy Shrikhar.:
A boy named Shrikhar lived in city of Ujjain. He was ardent devotee of
Lord Shiva. King of Ujjain Chandrashekhar was performing Lord Shiva pooja. Boy
shrikhar wanted to join entourage but was
turned away.Saddened, he ran to forest and started to Prayer. It was
then that overheard a few of people talking about attack on Ujjain city with
huge army.
So he
started to prayer Lord Shiva to protect Ujjain city from enemies, it is said
that, then Lord Shiva Appeared and promised to save all the time.
4.Omkareshwar Jyothir-linga , (Madhya Pradesh) :
Fourth
Joythir-linga locates banks River of Narmada
, between Indore & Khandwa,which encircled by the Narmada River. The island
is known as Mandhata island. Interest thing is about island is its inn shape of
OM symbol. two temple of one is
Omkareshwar Mamaleshwara or
Amareshwar.
Stahl Purana :
This is about Vindhya Parvatha
( Mountain), once Narada visited Vindhya with spicy way , Narada told to
Vindhya about the greatness of Mount Meru. This made Vindhya jealous about Meru
and decided to bigger than Meru.
Vindhya
started worshiping Lord Shiva , penance did for severe to please Lord Shiva
along with worshipped Prathvi-linga ( A
Linga made from Physical material )
Omkareshwara for six months. Lord Shiva Pleased with Vindhya and appears in
front of him and blessed with him desired Boon. On request ofd all sages and
devas Lord Shiva divided linga in two parts One is called Omkareshwara and
second in is mamaleshwara or Amareshwara
Lord Shiva gave boon for Vindhya to grown and took promised from him that never trouble to Devotees of Shiva.Vindhya began to Grow and forget word of Lord Shiva, even became obstacle for the SUN and MOON. All sages were approached to Agasthya Muini regarding Vindhya . Agasthya came with his wife and to Vindhya and told not to grow until return of Agasthya and his wife.
Vindhya was very obedient
for Agasthya Muni so he listened Agasthya Muni and his never returned they
stayed at Srishailam also called Dakshina Kashi.
5.B(V)aidhyanatha / Vaijanatha Jyothir-Linga :
It is located at Deogarh in the Santal Parganas
region of Jharkhand.
Sthal Purana :
In purana
Ravana Did Hard Penanace many years for pleasing lord Shiva. Lord Shiva pleased
him, Ravana invited Lord Shiva to Lanka to be forever , Lord Shiva listened him
gave him Linga along with instruction
that should not touch Ground at any condition, if incase it touches ground there I will stayed , Ravana agree and
journey begins to Lanka.
By seeing
this all Devas came to know that first of all Ravana is demon if Lord Shiava
stayed with it is impossible to kill him, so all went to Lord Vishnu seek help, Lord Vishnu made one
plan to interrupt Ravana plan.
Lord Vishnu became a boy and instructed to Varaun dev (God of Rain) enter in his stomach , as soon as Varundev entered his stomach Ravana felt to do nature call but in his hand Sacred Linga is there so he can’t hold in his hand , so he was started to searching someone to hold Shiva-Linga. A boy was in the passing through that way Ravan had called that boy and told him to hold Shiv-Linga and not put on ground. That boy told to Ravan he can’t wait more he has to look after his cows and you have to come within count of three. And it is heavy too I can’t hold it more time.
Ravana agreed and went for his finishing his nature
call. As soon as Ravana gone from there
boy kept That Shiva-Linga on ground , then it got formed there only. Ravan came
to know that Shiva-Linga Touched ground and it is impossible to lift it from
there , he tried all the way to get it that he strikes on Shiva-Linga. Still
you can see that mark of Ravana fist on Shiva-Linga.
Also it is called Shakti-peeta, Sathi’s
Heart was fallen here while Lord Shiva was carrying her in his hand That’s what
it called Hrudaya Peeta.
6.BhimaShankar, (Maharastra) :
Bhima-Shankar
locates Sahayadri Mountain range north west of
Pune, Maharastra . Bhimarathi river flows southeast and merge with
Krishna in Raichur. The temple is very old, the water continuously pour from the idols there are two pools behind
temple. In the village of Bhavgiri.
Sthal Purana :
In the dense forest of Daikini, there lived a
demon called Bhima with his mother Karkati. He was giving tortured go everyone
he asked once to his Mother Karkati about his father detail. Karkati told that
your son of Kumbhakarna Younger brother of Ravana king of Lanka, both his
father and uncle slain by Lord Ram, and told that Lord Rama was Incarnation of
Lord Vishnu. By hearing this Bhima infuriated on Lord Vishnu and decide and
vowed to take avenge on Lord Vishnu.
Bhima performed hard penance,to please Lord
Brahmma , Bhima’s Penance got success Lord Brahmma appeard and gave him boon of
very strong man. becoming very strong he he captured Indra and Vishnu too. They
were in his control .After this he becomes victory of Shiva devotee
Kamarupeshwar. Bhima kept him in prison Kamrupeshwar did not stopped
worshipping Lord Shiva in prison also, along with his wife too, another side
Lord Vishnu and other gods started to requesting Lord Shiva to deliverance from
the demon Bhima.
Bhima told to Karupeshwara worship him instead
of Lord Shiva, when Kamrupeshwara refused him to do so, then Bhima raised his
sword to strike on Shiva-Linga asa soon as he raised sword on Linga, Lord Shiva
appeared in-front of him in magnificence. War held between lord Shiva and demon
Bhima. sage Narada requested to Lord Shiva end the war as per request of Narad
Lord Shiva finished war turning Bhima into ashes concluded time of tyranny.
Sage Naraad and all other gods were appeared then requested to Lord Shiva make
this his place adobe.Thus Lord Shiva manifested himself as in the form of Bhima-Shankar Jyothirlinga.
7.Triambikeshwara , Nasik, Maharastra
This
Trimbakeshwara jyothir-linga is very unique among the 12 jyothir-lingbas.
Because its swayambhu and huge.this Shiva-linga not has Pindi (Banda) , but it
has hole in the middle and inside of hole is there are three pindies of Brahma,
Vishnu and Mahesh symbolically.
Miracle
is on, Lord Shiva’s Pindi Varun deva continuously does Abhishek by pouring water.Nobody
know that where that water comes from. As per Shiva Purana it is because of the
earnest request of Godavri. Gautam Rishi and other gods that Lord Shiva agreed
to reside at Triambikeshwara..
Sthal Purana :
Gautam
Rishi was resided at Brahmgiri hill with his wife Ahilya. By virtue of devotion
Gatam rishi blessed with Varundev, a bottomless pit from which he receives
inexhaustible supply of grains and food. By seeing this other Rishis were
jealous from Gatam Rishi and made a plan of Gohathya , so they arranged one cow
which entering at granary and caused it to die as Gautam Rishi attempted to
ward it off with a bunch of Dharba (Grass).
All were
started you killer of cow you should leave this place. Therefore Gautam Rishi
started worshipping Lord Shiva to bring Ganga down to release from gohathya ,
purify to his hermitage and premises. As per request of Gautam Rishi Lord Shiva
sent Ganga to flow down and make Sage
Gautam Rishi pure. Lord Shiva instructed to Ganga Stay there with eternally
good for the everyone. All gods were started prasing Lord Shiva Ganga and
Gautam Rishi. Gautam Rishi requested to Lord Shiva stay at Gauthami river with
Triambikeshwara Name.
8.Kedarnath, Uttarakhand :
Kedarnath
is about 1,200 old year,located in snow place and framed with MANDAKINI
River such wonderful place of India with more active vibrations of positive
and make everyone who visit that place gives immense pleasure. There is believe
that Kedarnath temple built by Pandavas.
And restored by Adi Shankarcharya shrine of glory in the 8th
century A.D.
The hump of
the bull was found in kedarnath, the naval emerged in Madhya-Maheshwar, two
forelegs appeared in Tunganath, the face in Rudranath, and the hair in
Kalpeshwar. These are collectively called the Paunch Kedar- Five
sacred places most amazing news is that Temple was under snow for 400 hundred
years.
Sthal
Purana:
Nara and Narayana two
incarnations of Lord Vishnu performed severe penance in Badrikashraya of Bahart
Khand, in front of a Shiva-Lingam fashioned out of earth. Pleased with their
devotion, Lord Shiva appeared in front of them and said to ask boon. Nara and
Narayana requested Shiva to take up a permanent adobe as a Jyothirlingas at
Kedarnath, so that all people who worship you shall be freed from their
sufferings.
There is another legend of Kedarnath from Mahabharatha, after
kurukshetra Pandvas were felt guilt themselves for killing their relatives , so
they sought to meet Shiva seeking for forgiveness for what they had done. Lord
Shiva was unhappy with them and refused to give darshan for them and left for Kashi.
His adobe he appeared as nandi the Bull in GuptaKashi. But the pandavas found
out, and tried to catch hold of Nadi. Shiva escaped and this time,
reappeared in five different parts in
different places- the face at Rudranath, Arms at Tunganath, Navel and Stomach
at Madhyamaheshwar, the locks at Kalpeshwar and Hump at Kedarnath.
9. Kashi
Vishwanath :
One of the world’s oldest cities is
‘VARANASI’ there were about 22 different types of definitions available to
describe Varanasi I that Markandeya was lived in that city which one of the
great Shiva Bhakta. There are some cities which are respected at
the very mention of their name. Period. We are talking about Varanasi.. However,
do not go to this city, if you are not a worthy traveler. The city is old, and
still retains the ancient charm of paying respect to God via the traditional
methods and the cremation of dead bodies at the Ghats. It has a history of 3600
years.
Some important
places in Kashi:
Ø Near Varanasi,
there is an area known as Sarnath. Buddha delivered his first sermon after
enlightenment.
Ø Adi
Shankaracharya has written Kasi Panchakam, a tribute to the city.
Ø This city holds
prominence as being the birthplace of at least four Jain Tirthankaras. They are
Suparshvanath (7th), Chandraprabhu (8th), Shreyanshnath (11th) and Parshvanath
(23rd).
Ø Tulsi Das
composed the evergreen Hanuman Chalisa and Ramcharitmanas in Kashi.
Ø The guardian deity of Kashi is Kaal Bhairav. His image – a thick mustache, vahana is a dog, has a tiger skin as cloth, holds a sword by the right hand and the head of a demon on the other hand.
Evening Aarti –
The
very most activity that a traveler should never miss is the glorious Evening
Arati of Kashi ( Varanasi). It is one moment that you will cherish forever. The
rituals unfolding for the Lord is a treat to watch. The lamps (made of brass)
come to 4.5 kilograms.
Weavers Village –
One of the
famous saris of this city is the Banarasi,Saree made of gold, silver and
popular for its zari.
The city stands on the Trident of Shiva
There is another myth which states that the city stands on the trident of
Shiva. In short, Kashi is not on Mother Earth, it stands above the ground.
There are three temples which act as the three points for the trident. They are
Aumkareshwara in the North, Vishweshwara in the middle and Kedareshwara in the
South.
As per local folklore, there are eight Kaal Bhairavs who guard the city; Ashta Dikkugalu. The temple for these Gods are present in eight cardinal directions and protect the sanctity of the Kashi Vishwanath temple. In fact, this city is believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva. It is widely rumored that before death, Lord Shiva whispers Tarak mantra in the dead man’s ears to attain salvation.
Name and Timings of Arati:
Mangala Aarti – At
3 AM in the Morning. It extends till 4 AM
Bhoga Aarti – From
11.15 AM to 12.20 PM
Sandhya Aarti – As
the name suggests – it takes place in the evening. 7 PM to 8.15 PM
Shringara Aarti – it
extends after evening from 9 PM to 10.15 PM.
Shayana Aarti – In
the last hours of the evening. 10.30 PM to 11 PM
10) Rameshwara
Jyotirlinga,Tamil Nadu:
This has Longest corridor among all Hindu Temples.The primary deity of the temple is Ramanath swamy ( Lord Shiva).There
are two lingas inside the sanctum, one built by Devi Sita, and from sand ,
residing as the main deity, Ramanathlinga, another one established by Lord
Hanuman from kailash called Vishwalingam. Rama instructed that vishwalingam
should be worshiped first since I was brought by lord Hanuman - Still that
tradition continues today.
According to the Hindu
mythology Lord Rama performed thanksgiving rituals to Lord Shiva after his
triumph over the demon king Ravana. It is mainly because of this reason that
Rameshwaram attracts Vaishnavites and Shaivites alike. Sri Lanka is at a
distance of 24 kilometres from Rameshwaram. Rameshwaram happens to one of the
most visited pilgrim sites in India. The Rameshwaram Island occupies an area of
about 61.8 sq km and is conch shaped.
.
*Attractions of Rameshwaram* :
Ramanathaswamy
Temple :
The
famous Ramnathswamy temple was built in the 17th century and is situated close
to the sea on the eastern side of the Rameshwaram Island. The Ramnathswamy
temple is famous for its 1200 massive granite columns. The temple has 54 meter
tall gopuram (gate-tower) and 1220 meters of magnificent corridors.
Agnitheertham:
The
Agniteertham is located at a few meters from the Ramnathswamy temple. It is
believed to be located at the same spot where Rama worshiped Lord Shiva.
Dhanushkodi:
Dhanushkodi
is located at the eastern end of the island. It is named after Lord Ram's bow
and is at a distance of 8 km from Rameshwaram. The boulders in the sea between
Sri Lanka and Dhanushkodi are known as Adam's bridge. It is believed that Lord
Hanuman used them to reach across Sri Lanka.
Erwadi:
At a
distance of 24 km from Rameshwaram, Erwadi is an important place of Muslim
pilgrimage. The tomb of Ibrahim Sahid Auliya is located at Erwadi. Muslims from
across the globe visit Erwadi, especially during the month of December to
participate in the annual festival held to pay tribute to the saint.
According to the Indian mythology,
Rameshwaram is old as the epic saga, Ramayan. It is said that in this place
Rama made lingam worshipped Lord Shiva to defeat Ravana. According to the
religious text, that Lord Rama was asked by sage to establish a Shivalinga to
be free from the sins of Killing who was born as Brahmin. Lord Anjaneya was
sent away to bring a lingam from Kailash Mountain but did not return on time.
So Sita made the ShivaLinga with sand and named Ramalinga. When Lord Hanuman
returned from kailash mountain was dispointed.Hence Rama oinstructed that the
VIshwalingam which bought from Lord Hanuman that also get worshiped as
Ramalingam.
11)
Nageshwar Joythirlinga (Gujrath):
Sthal puran: Nageshwar Mahadev
Shivlinga facing towards South while the Gomugam is facing esat. There is story
why Shivlinga facing towards south, A devotee called Namdeva was singing
bhajans in front of Shivlinga, other devotee were told him to stand aside not
hide Shivaling.
After this Namdeva asked them
suggest one direction where god cannot exists. So that he can stand there. The
enraged devotees carried him and left him, on the south side.
Later all got astonished face of the
Shivlinga turned face in the direction of Namdeva on Southside. With Gomugam
was facing towards East. Speciality of this Linga made of Dwarka Shila which
small chakras on top of Shivlinga where other Shivlinga made up of black and
neat pillar rounded off at the top. Its
look like 3 mukhi Rudakasha.
12)
Grishneshwara Jyotirlinga :
This
Shivllinga considered last in Dwadashi Jothirlingas. And it is known as many
names like kusumeshwara, grusmeshwara, grishneshwara, ghushmeshwara. And this
temple located at village of verul.11 km from Daulathabad (Devgiri) 30 km from
Aurangabad, which is near Ajantha and Ellora caves.
Sthal Purana: Once
Parvati Devi was mixing vermilion and saffron with water to apply on her hair.
( a Symbol of married woman ) She kept them in her left palm and mixed water of
shivalay in it. With right thumb she started mixing them both. Shiva appeared
in form of light on her palm. The light turned into Lingam which she named
Grishneshwara as it was formed with the friction (grishan) between her finger and palm.
According to Shiva purana in the southern
direction, on mountain Devagiri lived a
Brahmin called Brahmavetta sudharm along
with his wife Sudeha. The couple had no child frustrated this Sudeha .he prayed and done all then remedies
to get child but ultimately result did not get. Sudheha go to her sister
Ghushma and told get marry with her husband. Ghushma used make 101 ShivLingas
worshipped them with devotion and discharged them lake. Lord shiva pleased by
devotion. She got blessing of Lord Shiva in the form of baby boy. By this
Ghushma became proud herself and started feeling jealous towards her sister.
One night in jealous, she killed son and thrown into same lake where
Shivalingas got discharged
. in the next morning even after hearing
everything was absorbed in worshiping Lord Shiva . she did not break down and said he who has given me child shall
protect him and started chanting Shiva mantra. when she went to discharge the
shivalinga after her prayer she saw her
son is coming . Lord Shiva appeared in front of her and pleased by her
devotion. Ghushma told to forgive sudeha.. pleased with her generosity, For
this Lord Shiva happy and told her to ask another boon. Ghushma said that if he
was really happy her devotion he reside here eternally for the benefit of
multitudes in the form of Joythirlinga. With her reference name became
Gushmeshwara.
*OM NAMAHA SHIVAYA*