Sacred 12 Jyotirlingas

Jyotirlinga symbolizes the shrine of Lord Shiva. There are 12 DWADASA JYOTIRLINGAS” at twelve places in India that are sacred to the Hindus. It is believed that all these twelve Jyotirlingas are “Swayambhus”, meaning that they sprung up by themselves at these places and temples were built upon them. The 12 Jyotirlingas are:

1.  Somnath in Saurashtra (Kathiawad), Gujarat
2.  Mallikarjun in Shrishailam  or Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh (also listed as a Shakti Pitha site)
3   Mahakal in Ujjain or Mahakalaswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
4.  Omkar in Mammaleshwaram at Omkareshwar on the river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh
5   Vaijnath in Parli (Vaidyanath at Deogarh in Bihar)
6.  Bhima Shankar in Dakini  near Poona in Maharashtra
7.  Rameshwaram in Setubandha in Tamilnadu
8.   Nagesh, Naganath/Nageshwar,in Darukavana in Maharaashtra
9.   Vishweshwar/ Viswanath in Banaras/Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh
10. Trimbakeshwar near Nasik on the banks of river Gautami/Godavari in Maharashtra
11. Kedarnath/Kedareshwar in Uttarkhand
 12 Ghurmeshwar in Shivalaya or Grineshwar in Visalakam, near Ellora caves, in Maharashtra.