7.Rameswara Jyothirlinga

RAMESWARA JYOTHIRLINGA

Rameswara Temple



7) Rameswara Jyotirlinga :It is in Tamil nadu and it is well connected by train from Chennai, Madurai and Trichy.From Chennai it is 600Km and from Madurai it is 120Km.Here deity is called Ramanatha swamy.One can reach Rameswaram(a island) via Pamban bridge across the sea. Here 36 theerthas are there.The lingam here is said to be made by earth by Sita while returning to Ayodhya. It is said that Hanuman was asked to bring a linga from Kasi for worship by Lord Rama. Anticipating some delay in Hanuman's arrival, Rama worshiped Siva(linga made by Sita) before the auspicious moments. we can find the linga brought by Hanuman also which is known as Viswanthar linga or Hanuman linga or Kasi linga.

Out of 36 theerthas 22 are available in the temple and one can take bath in water from these theerthas. people are available in the temple who can take you to all these theerthas and pour water on you with a bucket. Whole activity will not take much time as all these theerthas are very close to each other.

Places of Interest : Dhanuskoti from where Rama has built the bridge to lanka.,Gandamadana .

8.Nageswara Jyothirlinga

NAGESWARA JYOTHIRLINGA



8)Nageswara Jyotirlinga :

There is a dispute about this temple also.Some people say it is in Gujarat near Dwaraka. Ohter people say it is in Maharashtra at Aunda nagnath .However I am covering both these Jyotirlingas in this blog. I have seen both and I feel Aunda Nagnath is the actual Jyothirlinga. As per the shloka given in the home page the Jyothirlinga is in Daruka Vane. In due course people say Dwarka instead of Daruka Vanam (forest). Where as Aunda is in Daruka vanam.

Maharani Ahilya Bai who has renovated all the Jyothirlinga has renovated Aunda but not Dwarak. Aunda nagnath is very old temple and Dwaraka temple is recently constructed.

Sthala Purana :There used to be a rakshasa name Daruka. His wife was named Daruki. They lived in a forest on the banks of the western sea. Parvati had granted Daruki the boon that wherever Daruki went, the forest would follow.

Using this forest as a base, Daruka and Daruki began to oppress the world. They destroyed the yajnas and killed all the righteous people. In desperation, the survivors went to a powerful sage named Ourva. They told Ourva that he alone could save the world from the depredations of these rakshasas.

Ourva cursed the rakshasas that if they committed any violence on earth, they would immediately die.

As soon as the gods got to know about this curse, they attacked the rakshasas. The demons were in a fix. If they did not fight with the gods, they would be slaughtered. But if they fought with the gods, they would die because of Ourva's curse. They decided that they would go and live in the ocean.

Thanks to the boon that Daruki had received from Parvati, the entire forest was also submerged in the ocean and became the home of the rakshasas.

There the rakshasa lived. They did not return to earth. But they imprisoned and killed any people who travelled in boats across the ocean.

In this fashion, they once captured a vaishya (the third of the four classes) who was devoted to Shiva. The vaishya set up a linga in the prison and began to pray to Shiva. When the rakshasas saw this, they attacked him with weapons so as to kill him. This vaishya was named Supriya. Shiva gave Supriya a pashupata, a divine weapon associated with Shiva. With this the vaishya killed many demons.

The remaining rakshasas were saved by Parvati's intervention.

The linga that Supriya worshipped is Nagesha.

Nageswara Temple at Dwaraka

8a)Nageswara Jyotirlingam: The Temple is 17 km from Dwaraka. You can reach Dwaraka by Puri - OKha or Ernakulam-OKha train. Dwaraka is one station before Okha. There are reasonable accommodation available for stay at Rs150 for single and Rs 250 for double room. You can visit Nageswar temple by tourist bus(Rs50) which will cover Rukhmini temple, Nageswar temple and Bet Dwaraka apart from Nageswar temple. Bet Dwaraka is the place where Sudhama met lord Krishna. For Bet dwaraka You have to go by boat for which you have to buy boat ticket seperately. At Nageswar temple, one can buy Rs 151 abhisheka ticket and do the same him self by wearing a dhoti provided by temple trust (if yor are not having your own). A huge statue of Lord Siva is there by the side of Nageswar temple.Please see the top of this blog.

Places of Interest: Dwarakadish temple, Iskon temple, Swami narayan temple and Trilok darshan art gattery of Brahmakumaris. and the Sharada peeth(Dwaraka). It is one of the four peethas installed by Adi Shankaracharya. Sri shankaracharya has installed Sharada peethas in all four sides that is east ,west, north and south.This is the peetha installed in west.

Food :In breakfast Ghaatia or dokala both made of basan are only available. Both are delicious but if basan does not suit you ,alternative arrangement for bread etc to be made in advance. Plenty of curd is available near all the temples.

Aunda Nagnath Temple

8b) Aunda Naganath Jyotirlinga: It is 120Km from Parli in Maharashtra. This is very old temple built by Rani Ahilya Bai. The place where the temple is there is called Darukavanam. The above shloka says 'Nagesam Darukavane' as such it is believed that this is the actual jyothirlinga.It is 51Km from Parbhani rail way station. Nandigram express( train No1401) which goes from Nagpur to Mumbai stops here.The main deity at aundha is in under ground. One can perform abhisheka by purchasing the ticket. The men need not remove their shirts while performing the abhisheka. After the abhisheka the silver cover on the linga is removed and one can have the darshan of the main deity. While coming out from the inner temple one has to climb a 3 feet step which is difficult for ladies and old people.

Food : One can have good food at National dhabha which 2Km from the temple.

Stay : Parbhani where reasonable lodges at Rs 200 to 300 are available.

Places of interest : Jintur is 40 Km from Aunda where Digambar Jain temple is there. The statue of Mahaaveerji here is in almost floating state and just one inch above from the ground and resting on tip of a stone. This can be compared with the mysterious place in US near Sanfransisco. It is said that 500 years back this statue was floating six inches above the ground and when Moghals raided this area it was covered with earth and later the equilibrium was lost.

Nanded which is 64 Km from aundha is another place of interest where we will find famous Gurudwara and Guru Govindji ka samadhi.

At both the above places we find the plaques/boards made by the respective authorities saying that it is one of the 12 jyotirlingas. As such it is better to visit both these temples.

9.Varanasi Jyothirlinga

VARANASI JYOTHIRLINGA

Viswanath Temple,Varanasi



9) Varanasi Jyotirlinga:

It is the most famous jyotirlinga. It is well connected by train from New Delhi, Kolkatta, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and other major cities. The deity is known as Lord Kasi Visweswara and goddess is known as Kasi Visalakshi. You can do abisheka yourself . Original temple was destroyed many times and finally by Auranagazeb and rebuilt by Maharani Ahilya Bai in 1776. You can take bath in the river ganges which is close to the temple.
Sthala Purana:
Varanasi is a very sacred place. Brahma himself performed difficult tapasya there. So difficult was the tapasya that Vishnu shook his head in disbelief. When Vishnu shook his head, a jewel (mani) fell down from Vishnu' ear (karna). The place where the jewel fall is known as Manikarnika and it is a famous tirtha.

Varanasi is not destroyed when the rest of the world is destroyed. Shiva himself raises it on the point of his trident and protects it while destruction rages all around. When the world is re-created. Shiva replaces Varanasi to its appointed place.

Shiva and Parvati once went to visit Brahma. Brahma began to chant hymns in Shiva's praise with all of his five mouths. One of the mouths however made mistakes in the pronunciation of the hymns. This angered Shiva and Shiva severed the offending head with a gaze of his third eye.

But this effectively amounted to the killing of a brahmana and Shiva committed a crime. The severed head therefore got stuck to Shiva's back would would not come off, no matter where Siva went. But when Shiva arrived in Varanasi, the head fell off his back. Shiva realized that Varanasi was a special place and he resolved that he would always be present there.

Stay: Many dharmasalas and hotels are available

Places of interest: The new Viswanath temple in the university complex and Saranath which is 11km from here. Harichandra ghat where the fire is continuing from the days of Raja Hari chandra

10.Trayambakeswar Jyothirlinga

TRAYAMBAKESWAR JYOTHIRLINGA

Trayambakeswar Jyothirlinga

10) Trayambakeswar Jyothirlinga : It is in Maharashtra and it is 27 km from Nasik. Nasik road railway station is 188 km from Mumbai central . Trayambakeswar is 6 hours by road (bus Rs121) from Manchar which is near Bhimashankar. It is one of the Jyotirlingas where you are not allowed in the inner temple and you can not do abhisheka your self.The decoration of the deityis different in the morning and evening.

Sthala Purana :Towards the south of the country there was a mountain named Brahmaparvata. There the sage Goutama and his wife Ahalya performed tapasya for ten tousand years. While they were meditating, there were no rains in the forest for a hundred years and there was a shortage of water. Living beings died from the drought. Goutama prayed to Varuna, the god of the ocean and the rain. Varuna appeared and offered to grant a boon.

Please grant the boon that it might rain, said Goutama.

I can't do that, replied Varuna. That is beyond my powers. Ask for something else instead.

Then let us have a pond in the forest that will always be full of water, said Goutama.

This was within Varuna's powers and the pond was created. The other sages also began to use water from this pond. Normally, Goutama sent his disciples to fetch water. But the disciples complained that the wives of the other sages did not let them take the water. So Ahalya herself started to fetch the water. The wives of the other sages annoyed and pestered Ahyalya, but she never reacted. These wives then complained to their husbands about Ahalya and Goutama. At first the sages did not listen, but eventually, they were convinced that Ahalya and Goutama were wicked. They therefore sought to devise a plan so that these two might punished. They began to pray to Ganesha.

When Ganesha arrived, the sages said, Please grant us the boon that Goutama and Ahalya might be banished from the hermitage.

Although Ganesha realized that this was an unfair boon, he decided to grant it because he realized that the sages and their evil wives needed to be punished.

Goutama had some fields of paddy and grain. Ganesha adopted the form of a lean and starving cow and began to eat up the crop. Goutama tried to drive away the cow with a blade of grass. But as soon as he struck the cow with the blade of grass, the cow fell down and died. This was a terrible calamity.

It was the killing of a cow.

The other sages banished Goutama and Ahalya from the hermitage. They had to set up an ashrama (hermitage) that was a fair distance away. The other sages completely disassociated themselves from Goutama and Ahalya. Goutama began to think of ways of performing prayashchitta (penance) for the crime that he had committed. The other sages told him that he would first have to travel around the world. After that, he would have to pray very hard for an entire month. The next task was to circle Brahmaparvata a hundred times and bathe in a hundred pots of water. This would complete the penance.

All this Goutama and Ahalya did. They also prayed for a long time to Shiva.

Shiva appeared before them and offered them a boon. Goutama desired the boon that the river Ganga might always be present in the hermitage. Ganga said that she would agree subject to the condition that Shiva and Parvati were also always present in the hermitage. Parvati and Shiva agreed to do this. This established Trymbaka, the eighth of the jyotirlingas. The river Ganga which flowed there came to be known as the Godavari. So Trymbaka is on the banks of the Godavari.

What happened to the evil sages and their wives? Goutama asked that they might be pardoned. They performed penance by circling Brahmaparvata one hundred and one times, and begged forgiveness from Goutama and Ahalya.

Stay:Gajanana Samsthan very clean and reasonable rates( Rs 150 for double room)

Near by places of interest : Panchavati, Muktidham and birth place of River Godavari. It is 2hours hilly route to the birth place of Godavari. Unless you have lot of stamina, do not attempt to visit this place

11.Kedarnath Jyothirlinga

KEDARNATH JYOTHIRLINGA

11.Kedarnath Jyothirlingas



11) Kedarnath Jyotirlinga: It is in Uttaranchal. This is the only jyotirlinga which is not opened through out the year. The temple is opened from May to October every year and you have to go by road only.It is 230Km from Rishikesh and 250Km from Dehradun by road and is at an altitude of 3584M. The temple is built by Adi Shankaracharya in 8th century AD. Original temple said to be built by Pandavas. Behind the temple there is samadhi of Adi Shankaracharya. The route to Kedar from Rishikesh is via Devprayag, Srinagar,Rudraprayaga, Ukhimath and Gowrikhund.There is another route via Utter Kasi and gangotri.

Ukhimath is the place where priests offer prayers for six months when the temple is closed during the winter season.

Sthala Purana :In one of Vishnu's incarnations, he revealed himself as the two sages, Nara and Narayana. These two sages prayed for a long time in the hermitage known as vadrikashrama. Near this hermitage there was a peak of the Himalayas named Kedara.

After the two sages had prayed to Shiva for a very long time, Shiva appeared and said, I don't understand why the two of you worshipping me. It is you who should be worshipped. But since you have been praying to me, let me grant you a boon.

Nara and Narayana desred that Shiva should always be present in the form of a linga on the peak Kedara.

Nearest railway station : Rishikesh

12.Grishneswar Jyothirlinga

GRISHNESWAR JYOTHIRLINGA

12.Grishneswar Temple

12) Grishneswar Jyotirlinga : It is in Maharashtra and near by rail way station is Daulatabad which is 12Km from the temple. It is also well connected by road from Aurangabad. The temple is rebuilt by Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore around 1768. It is the only jyotirlinga where the deity faces east. Many people are not aware of this temple and people who are visiting shirdi can plan a trip to this temple easily.The deity is called Ghrushmeshwar.The goddess is Grishneshwari. The temple is at Ilapur and the village is called Verul.

Sthala Purana :The twelfth and last of the jyotirlingas is named Ghushnesha.

To the south, there is a mountain named Deva. A brahmana named Sudharma used to live there. His wife was called Sudeha. Husband and wife were righteous and regularly prayed to the gods. They had only one reason for complaint: they had no son. Sudeha was especially disturbed at this. Other women tended to insult her because she had no son.

Sudharma decided to conduct an experiment. He plucked two flowers and offered them in front of a sacred fire. He mentally associated one of the flowers with having a son and asked his wife to choose a flower. Unfortunately, his wife chose the flower that was not associated wtih having a son. From this Sudharma concluded that they were not going to have a son and he did his best to console Sudeha.

But Sudeha refused to be consoled, she was miserable.

Why don't you marry again? asked Sudeha. Perhaps you will then have a son. Marry my niece Gushna.

No, replied Sudharma. You love her now because she is your niece. But if she does indeed have a son, you will become jealous and will come to hate her.

Sudeha convinced her husband that this would never happen. So Sudharma married Ghushna.

Every day, Ghushna made a hundred and one lingas out of clay and worshipped them. When the day's prayers were over, she immersed the lingas in a pond. When one lakh lingas had thus been worshipped, Ghushna gave birth to a handsome boy. Shiva had taken pity on Sudharma and Ghushna.

But when the son was born, Sudeha's nature changed. As her husband had warned her, she felt jealous. She thought that Gushna got more important and she was treated like a maid. In the middle of the night, Sudeha slew the boy with a knife and threw the dead body into the pond. This was the pond where the lingas had been immersed.

As was her wont, Ghushna got up in the morning and began to worship a linga. Blood was discovered on the bed, the boy could not be found and everyone raised the alarm. But Ghushna was not distracted by this racket and did not leave her prayers. Shiva was so impressed with Ghushna's devotion that he restored her son back to life. He also wished to kill the evil Sudeha with his trident, but Gushna begged for her aunt's life and Shiva spared Sudeha. Shushna's act of forgiveness so impressed Shiva that he wished to grant Ghushna another boon, apart from restoring her son.

Ghushna desired that Shiva might alwaysbe present in a linga near the pond. This is known as Ghushnesha

Stay : At Verul no proper lodges are there and one has to stay at Daulatabad/Aurangabad.

Near by places of interest: Ellora caves, Shiridi Sai baba temple , Daulatabad Fort, Aurangzeb Tomb, Bibika Makbara(mini tajmahal). Ajantha caves are 110 Km from the temple. Ellora is only 2Km from the temple. 34 caves are there at Ellora.