JYOTIRLINGA TEMPLES / STHALANGAL

A Jyotirlinga or Jyotirling or Jyotirlinga Sanskrit:ज्योतिर्लिङ्ग), Devanagari ज्योतिर्लिंग) is a devotional object representing the Supreme God  Shiva. Jyoti means 'radiance' and lingam the 'Image or Sign' of Shiva; JyotirLinga thus means the The Radiant Sign of The Almighty Siva. There are 64 Jyotirlinga sthalam of which  twelve traditional Jyotirlinga shrines are believed to be most auspicious and holy in  India.

It is believed that Lord Shiva first manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Arudra nakshatra in the form of jothi ie as column of fire piercing through the earth after he reaches a higher level of spiritual attainment.

According to Siva Mahapurana once Brahma (the god of creation) and Vishnu (the form of God during Preservation) had an argument over supremacy of creation.  To settle the debate, Supreme God Shiva pierced the three worlds appearing as a huge Infinite column of Light. ( The Jyotirlinga which later cooled into the Holy Mountain Annamalai,  on which the Temple of Arunachaleshwara is located). Vishnu in the form of varaha and Brahma in the form anna bird, split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end and asked Thalam poo ( a flower ) to give witness to Shiva, while Vishnu accepted his defeat.  After this debate Shiva cursed that Brahma will not be worshiped in a separate temple and the flower Thalampoo should not be offered for worship. The Jyotirlinga in all Shiva Temple are worshiped in the form of Lingothbavar just back side of Sanctum.

Sanskrit Sloka
The following sloka (द्वादश ज्योतिर्लिंग स्तोत्रम् Dvādaśa Jyotirliṅga Stotram) describes the 12 Jyotirlingas:

தமிழில்
“ஸௌராஷ்ட்ரே ஸோமநாதம்ச ஸ்ரீ சைலே மல்லிகார்ச்சுனம்
உஜ்ஜயின்யாம் மாகாளம் ஓங்காரம் அமலேச்வரம்
பரல்யாம் வைத்யநாதம்ச டாகின்யாம் பீமசங்கரம்
சேதுபந்தேது ராமேசம் நாகேசம் தாருகாவனே
வாராணஸ்யாம் து விச்வேசாம் த்ரயம்பகம் கௌதமீதடே
ஹிமாலயேது கேதாரம் குஸ்மேசம் சிவாலயே
ஏதானி ஜோதிர் லிங்கானி ஸாயம் ப்ராத: படேந்த:
ஸ்ப்த ஜன்ம கிருதம் பாபம் ஸ்மரணே வினச்யதி”

In Sanskrit
Saurāṣṭre Somanāthaṃ ca Śrīśaile Mallikārjunam
Ujjayinyāṃ Mahākālam Omkāram Mamleśhwaram
Paraly Vaidyanāthaṃ cha Ḍākinyāṃ Bhīmaśhaṅkaram
Setu Bandhe tu Rāmeśaṃ Nāgeśhaṃ Dārukāvane
Vārāṇasyāṃ tu Viśveśaṃ Tryambakaṃ Gautamītaṭe
Himālaye tu Kedāraṃ Ghuśmeśaṃ ca Śivālaye
etāni jyotirliṅgāni sāyaṃ prātaḥ paṭhennaraḥ
saptajanmakṛtaṃ pāpaṃ smaraṇena vinaśyati
karmakṣayo bhavettasya yasya tuṣṭo maheśvarāḥ

In DEvanagiri ( Hindi )
सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथं च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम्।
उज्जयिन्यां महाकालमोङ्कारममलेश्वरम्॥
परल्यां वैद्यनाथं च डाकिन्यां भीमशङ्करम्।
सेतुबन्धे तु रामेशं नागेशं दारुकावने॥
वाराणस्यां तु विश्वेशं त्र्यम्बकं गौतमीतटे।
हिमालये तु केदारं घुश्मेशं च शिवालये॥
एतानि ज्योतिर्लिङ्गानि सायं प्रातः पठेन्नरः।
सप्तजन्मकृतं पापं स्मरणेन विनश्यति॥
एतेशां दर्शनादेव पातकं नैव तिष्ठति।
कर्मक्षयो भवेत्तस्य यस्य तुष्टो महेश्वराः॥:

In English
Somnath in Saurashtra and Mallikarjunam in Srisailam;
Mahakaal in Ujjain, Mamleshwar in Omkareshwar;
Vaidyanath in Parali and Bhimashankar in Dakini;
Ramesham (Rameshwaram) in Setubandh, Nagesham in Darukavana;
Vishwa-Isham (Vishwanath) in Varanasi, Trimbak on bank of the river Gautami;(Godavari)
Kedar ( Kedarnath ) in Himalayas and Grushnesh (Ghushmeshwar) in Shivalaya ( Shiwar ).
One who recites these Jyotirlingas every evening and morning
is relieved of all sins committed in past seven lives.
One who visits these, gets all his wishes fulfilled
and one's Karma gets eliminated as Maheshwara gets satisfied to the worship. 

  

SL NO	GOD AND GODESS	PLACE	LOCATION
1		Somnath	Gujarat
2	Sri Bramarambika Samedha Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy	Mallikarjuna	Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
3		Mahakaleshwar	Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
4		Omkareshwar	Madhya Pradesh
5	Sri Kedareswara	Kedareswara	Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
6	Sri Bhimashankar	Bhimashankar	Pune, Maharashtra
7		Vishwanath	Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
8	Sri Trimbakeshwar	Trimbakeshwar	Nashik, Maharashtra
9	Sri Vaidyanath ( Sri Vijnath in Marathi )	Vaidyanath	Parli, in Beed district, Maharashtra
10	Sri Nagnath	Aundha Nagnath	Aundha, Hingoli district, Maharashtra
11	Sri Parvathavardini Samedha Sri Ramanatheeswarar	Rameswarar	Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
12	Sri Grishneshwar or Sri Ghusmeshwar	Grishneshwar	Ellora near Aurangabad, Maharashtra

--- OM SHIVAYA NAMA ---