12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva are established in different parts of the country. According to the beliefs of Hinduism, Lord Shiva himself is seated at these 12 places. It is said that a person who visits these Jyotirlingas once in his life, all the sins of his seven births are destroyed. Let us know where these 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva are present in the country.

Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga – Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga is located in Andhra Pradesh. This is the second famous Jyotirlinga in the country. The story of this Jyotirlinga is as follows- It is said in ancient times that once Mata Parvati and Lord Shiva were also caught in a dilemma. Both were not able to decide whether to marry Ganesha or Kartikeya first? Then both together organized a competition. According to the competition, whoever among Ganesha and Kartikeya will go round the earth the quickest will be married first.

After this Kartikeya set out on his peacock for a tour, while Ganesha took a round around Mata Parvati and Shiva. When asked, Ganesh said that for him his parents are the world. So he circled them. Mother Parvati and Lord Shiva were so pleased to hear this that they got Ganesha married to Ridhi and Siddhi, the two daughters of Vishwaroopam. Kartikeya felt very bad seeing this and decided that he would never get married. After this, he left for Shri Saila mountain and spent his further life there. When Mata Parvati and Shiva came to know about this, both of them reached to meet her. Mata Parvati met him on the full moon day. At the same time, Lord Shiva came to meet him on the new moon day. In this way, Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga was established.

Somnath Jyotirlinga– Somnath is the most famous and largest Jyotirlinga in India. Somnath located in Gujarat is the center of reverence for the devotees. The story of Somnath is quite interesting. It is said that Chandra married all the 27 daughters of King Daksha. But he used to love only Rohini.

One day King Daksha’s patience broke and he cursed Chandra that he would lose all his luster. Due to the effect of this curse, Chandra lost his light and the whole world was plunged into darkness. Seeing the deteriorating conditions, all the gods appealed to Daksha to forgive Chandra. After many efforts, Daksha said that if Chandra does the austerity of Lord Shiva, then he will get his light back. Soon after this, Chandra did severe penance, due to which Bholenath was pleased and he returned his light to Chandra. The first Jyotirlinga Somnath was established from here.

Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga– Mahakaleshwar is the third famous Jyotirlinga of India. This Jyotirlinga is built near the Rudra Sagar Lake of Ujjain. It is believed that once there used to be the rule of a king named Chandrasen. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and the people there also worshiped Mahadev. Once King Ripudaman attacked Chandrasen’s palace. Along with him was the elusive demon Dushana who could have become invisible at times. The demon tortured the people there and destroyed the entire palace. Then the people there remembered Lord Shiva and pleaded for help.

It is said that here Mahadev himself appeared and protected the subjects. This, after hearing the prayers of the people of Ujjain, Bholenath decided that he would not leave Ujjain. This is how Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga was born.

Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga – Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga is located in Madhya Pradesh. This Jyotirlinga is built on Shivpuri island near the Narmada river. Omkareshwar means Lord of Omkareshwar. According to the Puranas, once there was a big war between the gods and the asuras in which the demons defeated the gods. After this everyone prayed to Lord Bholenath to come and protect him. Accepting the request of the gods, Lord Shiva came there and killed those demons. In this way, Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga was established there.

Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga– This famous Vaidyanath Jyotirling is located in Jharkhand. It is believed that worshiping here removes all your troubles. The story of this Jyotirlinga is related to the great pandit and demon Ravana. It is said that once Dashanan was doing a very harsh penance of the Lord on the Himalayas. He was offering all his heads one by one to Lord Shiva. Just as he was offering his ninth head, Mahadev appeared and asked Ravana to ask for any boon. Then Ravana said that he wants him to go to the city of Lanka with him and get established there.

Now Bholenath accepted this prayer of Ravana, but also put a condition that if he kept this Shivling on the ground anywhere in the middle of the way, then he would be established there forever. Ravana accepted this condition and took the Jyotirlinga and left for Lanka. The deities were very sad and worried by this decision of Lord Shiva, as they could not see Bholenath going to Lanka. Then all the gods went to Vishnu and requested him to find a solution. Then Vishnu made such a Leela that Ravana left the Shivling in the middle of the way, handing it over to a cowherd.

But that cowherd kept that Shivling on the ground there and according to the condition that Jyotirlinga got established there. It is said that Lord Vishnu himself had come in the form of that cowherd to create this Leela.

Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga– Bhimashankar Jyotirling has a lot of recognition in history. This Jyotirlinga is located in the Shahadri area of ​​Pune. The story of this Jyotirlinga is related to Bhima, the son of Kumbhakaran. It is said that when Bhima came to know that his father had been put to death by Lord Vishnu in the incarnation of Rama, he became very angry with that and decided to take revenge. Then he tortured himself a lot and did severe penance, due to which Brahma ji was pleased and granted him many divine powers as per his wish. Immediately after receiving the boon, Bhima started destroying the whole earth.

He also fought with the supreme devotee of Lord Shiva and imprisoned him. Seeing these atrocities on earth, all the gods became very upset and distracted. He prayed to Lord Shiva to kill this demon. Then there was a fierce battle between Mahadev and Bhima and Mahadev crushed him. Then at the request of all the deities, they stayed there, and thus Bholenath got a new name – Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga. It is also believed that due to the sweat that had fallen on the ground during the war of Lord Shiva, the Bhima river was born there.

Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga – The most famous and popular Jyotirlinga is Rameshwaram. Located in Tamil Nadu, this Jyotirlinga is associated with Ramayana. When Lord Rama reached Rameshwaram in search of Mother Sita. Then stayed there for a while for rest. There, as soon as he went near the river to drink water, he was stopped and there was an Akashvani which said that he could not drink water without his permission.

After this Lord Rama constructed a Shivling out of clay and worshiped it. Pleased with his worship, Bholenath gave his darshan and Rama asked him for his blessings of victory so that he could kill the arrogant Ravana. Lord Shiva blessed him and himself got established there in the form of Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga.

Ghrishneshwar Jyotirlinga– Ghrishneshwar Jyotirling is located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. It was built by Ahilyabai Holkar. It is said that the strings of this Jyotirlinga are connected to a married couple. This is the story of Surdham and Sudesha. Everything was going very well in this marriage. The only sad thing was that they did not have any children. Then Sudesha decided that Surdham should be married to his sister Ghushm. As soon as both of them got married, they had a talented child. But Sudesha got upset about this and as soon as she got a chance, she threw the boy in the lake where Surdham had offered 101 Shivlings.

On receiving this news, Surdham went to the lake and remembered Bholenath and pleaded to get his child back. It is said that Mahadev heard his call and returned his child to Surdham. Not only this, Surdham also apologized to Sudesha and asked Bholenath to forgive her. Seeing this, Bholenath became very happy and he blessed Surdham. Lord Shiva was established in the form of Ghrishneshwar Jyotirlinga at the same place.

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga– Nageshwar Jyotirling is located in Krishna city of Dwarka. It is believed that this Jyotirlinga is safe from the effects of all kinds of poison. This Jyotirlinga was also established in Dwarka by the grace of a devotee. Once a demon named Daruka took Shiva devotee Supriya in his possession.

Along with him, that demon had kept many other women in prison. Then Supriya asked everyone to chant Om Namah Shivaya. As soon as Daruka came to know about this, he set out to kill Supriya. But then Mahadev appeared and killed that evil demon. Thus Nageshwar Jyotirlinga was established on the land of Dwarka.

Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga – This is a world-famous Jyotirlinga situated near the Ganges on the Ghats of Varanasi. It is said that whoever takes the last breath of his life here, directly attains salvation. Not one but many stories are the centers of discussion about this Jyotirlinga. The most popular story is that of the differences between Brahma ji and Vishnu.

It is said that once there was a debate between Brahma ji and Vishnu ji as to who is bigger. Then Brahma ji got out of his vehicle and started searching for the upper part of the pillar. That’s where Vishnu went to find the lower part. Then the light came out from that pillar and Mahadev appeared. Now Lord Vishnu failed in his work, but Brahma ji lied that he had found the upper end. Lord Shiva became very angry with this and he cursed Brahma ji that now no one will worship him. It is said that Mahadev himself got established there in the form of Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga.

Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga– Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga located in Nashik has a lot of belief. It is said that the existence of Godavari river is also due to this Jyotirlinga. According to Shiva Purana, there used to be a very famous sage Gautam. He had got this boon from Lord Varun that he would never have any shortage of food grains. But when the other gods got jealous of this, they left a cow on their grain. He later felt sad about this and worshiped Lord Shiva. Then Mahadev asked Ganga Devi to pass through the area of ​​the sage so that all his sins would be washed away. In this way, he was established in Nashik as Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga.

Kedarnath Jyotirlinga – Kedarnath is considered to be the most important Dham among the four Dhams. Kedarnath Jyotirlinga was established in that holy abode. Lord Shiva always resides in Kedarnath and whoever goes there gets all his wishes fulfilled. There is a famous story about this Jyotirlinga. It is said that Lord Brahma had two sons, Nar and Narayan. Both of them were born as Krishna and Arjuna in Dwapara Yuga. Nar and Narayan were great devotees of Lord Bholenath. That is why he had made a Shivling of his own in Badrinath and sitting in front of it, both used to do severe penance.

It is said that Lord Shiva used to give darshan on that Shivling every day. One day Bholenath became so pleased with both of them that he asked both of them to ask for some boon. Then both said that you just stay at this place forever. Lord Shiva fulfilled his wish and thus Kedarnath Jyotirlinga was established.

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