Jyotirlinga Temples

Jyotirlinga was considered as most sacred in Hindu mythology. It was believed that Lord Shiva Manifested himself as Jyotirlingam in Aridra Nakshetra. Jyothi means Radiance and Lingam means Mark, this tells us that it was a Radiant Sign of Almighty. There are 12 Jyothirlingas in India in different states. It was believed that after a person attains a spiritual level the Jyothirlingam seems like a fire piercing through Earth.

Legends:

According to the Maha Shiva purana Once Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma had an argument over their power and supremacy. There argument was placed before Lord Shiva, who in turn put a test to them. He placed an Endless Lingam which passes through all the three worlds and has no end. He said that whoever finds its end point will be considered as supreme. Lord Vishnu tried and failed so he accepted his failure but Lord Brahma lied to Lord Shiva that he found the end point. Lord Shiva got angry on his lie and cursed him that he will not get any worship among mankind. However he blessed Lord Vishnu that he will be worshiped till the end of time. 

It was believed that there were 64 jyotirlingas but among them only 12 were considered as important and worshiped auspiciously. 

Location And Details:

NAME	PLACE	STATE	DESCRIPTION
Somnath	Prabhas Patan	Gujurat	This temple was  among the 12 and considered auspicious. It had a great history. It was destroyed and rebuilt 16 times.
Mallikarjuna swamy	Srisailam	Andhra Pradesh	This was place where a Shaktipeetha & Jyotirlingam are at a same place. This temple was architecturally attractive and sculpturally rich.
Mahakaleswar	Ujjain	Madhya Pradesh	It was the only temple which faces towards south. Here also Shaktipeetha & Jyotirlingam co-exists
Omkareswar	An Island in Narmada River	Madhya Pradesh	This place was on an Island and a shrine of Lord Shiva was constructed on it.
Kedarnath	Kedarnath	Uttar Pradesh	This was the north most Jyotirlinga among the twelve. It was believed that it is closest to Kailash(Home of Shiva). This temple was covered with snow so it was accessible only for 6 months in a year.
Bhimashankar	Bimashankar	Maharastra	This temple was also called as Moteswar Madhav.
Kashi Viswanath Temple	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	This place was situated on the banks of river Ganga and considered sacred. Yhis temple occupies prominent place in Indian History. This place was considered as oldest city in the world, has a history of 3000 years.
Trimbakeswar Shiva Temple	Near Nasik	Maharastra	This place was on the bank of river Godavari
Vaidyanath temple	Deoghar	Jharkhand	According to mythology Ravana after his tapasya asked Shiva to come with him to Lanka. Lord Shiva manifested himself as lingam and warned not to place it anywhere before reaching Lanka. But due  to Lord Vishnu intervention he placed it down, which was now called as Vaidyanath temple.
Nageswara Jyotirlinga	Dwarak	Gujurat	This temple was considered as 1st among the 12 jyotilingas on earth.
Rameswar Temple	Remeswaram	Tamil Nadu	This is the southernmost temple of Jyotirlingas and lord Rama worshiped this Lingam after his return from Lanka
Grishneswar	Aurangabad	Maharastra	This was the last among the 12 jyotirlingas this was near Ellora caves.