The twelve Jyotirlingas
The Shiva Purana, in its Koti Rudra Samhita, names twelve places where Mahadev manifested as a pillar of light, the jyotirlinga, and stayed.
The list is recited each morning by Shaivas across Bharat in the short Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotra, and the Purana says that whoever reads these twelve names on rising is freed from sin. They run from Somnath on the Saurashtra coast to Rameswaram at the setu, from Kedarnath in the Himalaya to Bhimashankar in the Sahyadri. For three of them devotees also honour another site: Vaidyanath is worshipped at Deoghar and at Parli in Maharashtra, Nageshwar near Dwarka, at Aundha in Maharashtra and at Jageshwar in the Kumaon hills, and Bhimashankar in the Sahyadri as well as in Assam. The pilgrimage to all twelve is called the jyotirlinga yatra.
सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथं च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम्। उज्जयिन्यां महाकालमोंकारे परमेश्वरम्॥ केदारं हिमवत्पृष्ठे डाकिन्यां भीमशंकरम्। वाराणस्यां च विश्वेशं त्र्यम्बकं गौतमीतटे॥ वैद्यनाथं चिताभूमौ नागेशं दारुकावने। सेतुबन्धे च रामेशं घुश्मेशं च शिवालये॥
Somnath in Saurashtra and Mallikarjuna on Shrishaila; Mahakala in Ujjayini, Parameshvara at Omkara; Kedara on the Himalayan heights, Bhimashankara in Dakini; Vishvesha in Varanasi, Tryambaka on the bank of the Gautami; Vaidyanatha in the land of the pyre, Nagesha in the Daruka forest; Rameshvara at the Setu, and Ghushmesha at Shivalaya.Shiva Purana, Koti Rudra Samhita 1.21–23
Temples in this circuit
RebuiltSomnath Jyotirlinga
The first Jyotirlinga, on the shore at Prabhas where the Sarasvati meets the sea. Raided, razed and rebuilt again and again for nine hundred years, it was raised once more by free India in 1951.
StandingMallikarjuna Jyotirlinga, Srisailam
The second of the twelve Jyotirlingas in the Shiva Purana’s list, on a forested ridge above the Krishna. Shiva and Shakti are worshipped here together, Mallikarjuna and Bhramaramba.
RebuiltMahakaleshwar, Ujjain
The Jyotirlinga of Avantika, one of the seven moksha-giving cities, where Shiva is worshipped as Mahakal, Lord of Time and Death. The only Jyotirlinga facing south, and the only one bathed in ash at the dawn aarti.
StandingOmkareshwar
A Jyotirlinga on Mandhata, an island in the Narmada whose shape, seen from above, is said to trace the syllable Om. Adi Shankaracharya found his guru here.
StandingKedarnath
The Himalayan Jyotirlinga at the head of the Mandakini, first of the Panch Kedar and one of Uttarakhand’s Char Dham. The linga is a rough triangular rock, the hump of Shiva in the form of a bull.
StandingBhimashankar Jyotirlinga
One of the twelve Jyotirlingas, high in the Sahyadri forest where the Bhima river is born. The black-stone temple sits in a hollow below the ridge, wrapped in cloud for half the year.
RebuiltKashi Vishwanath
The Jyotirlinga of Kashi, the city Shiva never leaves, where death on the ghats is said to bring moksha. The temple was destroyed in 1194 and 1669 and stands today beside the mosque built on its old plinth.
RebuiltTrimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga
The Jyotirlinga at the foot of Brahmagiri, where the Godavari rises. In its hollow sanctum three small lingas stand for Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh together.
StandingBaidyanath Dham, Deoghar
The Jyotirlinga that Ravana tried to carry to Lanka, and also a Shakti Peetha where Sati’s heart fell. In Shravan lakhs of kanwariyas walk here barefoot with Ganga water from Sultanganj.
RebuiltNageshwar Jyotirlinga
The Jyotirlinga of Darukavana on the road between Dwarka and Bet Dwarka, where Shiva saved his devotee Supriya from the demon Daruka.
StandingRamanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram
The southern Jyotirlinga, installed by Shri Rama on the island at the head of the setu before the war in Lanka. It is also the southern dham of the Char Dham.
RebuiltGrishneshwar Jyotirlinga, Verul
The twelfth Jyotirlinga, a red-stone temple in the village of Verul, a short walk from the Ellora caves. Destroyed in the wars of the Sultanate and Mughal centuries, it was raised again by Shivaji’s grandfather and then by Ahilyabai Holkar.