Lord Shiva is considered the supreme deity in Hinduism. Lord Shiva is both form and formless. He is without the beginning and the end. Shiva is the life force within everyone. Shiva is not sitting somewhere; he is within every atom of this universe. Shiva is the part of us and we are all part of Shiva.
What is Jyotirlinga
In most of the Shiva temples, Lord Shiva is worshiped in the linga form and not in the form of a murti (statue). In Sanskrit, ‘Linga’ means mark or symbol and ‘Jyoti’ means light. This means that Jyotirlinga is the representation of Lord Shiva, which reminds us that Shiva is omnipotent or formless. It signifies the infinite nature of Lord Shiva, without the beginning and the end. Linga is the form of a cosmic egg that represents Brahmanda. It is also the representation of the union of the duality of Shiva, which is ‘Purusha’ and ‘Shakti’. Unfortunately, many people think it is a sexual union. This linga form of Shiva is called Lingodbhava.
According to ancient scripture, Shiva Puran and Nandi Puran, Lord Shiva will have a presence all over the space. However, his presence will be felt more in these jyotirlingas.
There are three parts in the Shiva linga: the base part which manifests Brahma, the middle part which manifests Vishnu, and the top part which manifests Shiva. There are three types of lingas - Chala (moveable), Achala (Fixed), and Chalachala (both moveable and fixed).
Legend behind Jyotirlinga
As per the legend, once Vishnu was in Yoga Nidra at the end of the Kalpa and there appeared Lord Brahma. He introduced himself as the creator of the universe to which Vishnu responded that he is the one who is the protector of this universe. So, Brahma and Vishnu got into an argument as to who is superior among them. The endless argument turned into a warlike situation. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Lord Shiva decided to sort out the problem.
In another version of the story describes as both Brahma and Vishnu wanted to find the ‘Aadi’ (or beginning) and ‘Antya’ (or end) of Shiva. So they approached Lord Shiva to clarify the doubt. Shiva appeared as a pillar of flame in front of them. He told both Brahma and Vishnu to find out the source of the flame. He told whoever finds the head or the foot of the flame would be declared as great. Curious to find the source of the flame, Brahma took the form of a swan and flew upwards to see the top of the fire while Vishnu took the form of a wild boar to discover the foot of the fire. In spite of the massive effort, they were unable to find it. They both returned. And Lord Vishnu accepted the defeat but Brahma chose to lie and said he saw the head of the flame. Lord Shiva got angry with Brahma and decided to punish him. Shiva assumed the form of Bhairava. Bhairava cut off the 5th head of Brahma, which was an ego. That is the reason Kala Bhairava murthi is shown holding the Brahma kapala (Brahma’s head) in his hands. Then Shiva appointed Bhairava as the protector deity. Shiva then appeared in front of them in the form of a linga. They worshiped the Shiva and got dissolved with their ego.
Jyotirlingas in India
There are 64 jyotirlingas in India but 12 of these are very important to the devotees. These jyotirlingas are located in strategic locations. It is believed that the supreme deity of Hinduism, Lord Shiva himself resides in these places in different manifestations in the form of linga. From Kedarnath in the north to the Rameshwaram in the south, these twelve jyotirlingas attract millions of devotees every year from all over the world.
Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram
Adi Shankaracharya wrote Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram in reverence of the jyotirlinga temples.
|| dvaadasha jyOtirliMga stOtraM^^ ||
souraashtre somanatham cha shree shaile mallikaarjunam |
ujjayinyaam mahaakaalam omkaaretvamaamaleshvaram ||
parlyam vaidyanaatham cha dhaakinyaam bhImashamkaram |
setubandhetu raamesham naagesham daarukaavane ||
vaaranaashyantu vishvesham trayambakam goutamItate |
himaalayetu kedaaram grushneshantu vishaalake ||
etaani jyotirlingaani saayam praatah pathennarah |
sapta janma krutam papam smaranena vinashyati ||
Meaning of the Shloka -
The twelve lingas are - Somanath of Sourashtra (Gujarat), Mallikarjun of Sri Shailam (Andhra Pradesh), Mahakaal in Ujjain (MP), Mamleshwar in Omkareshwar (MP), Vaidyanath in Jharkhand, Bhimashankar in Dakinya (Maharashtra), Rameshwaram in Sethubandh (TN), Nageshwar in Darukavana (Gujarat), Vishwanath in Varanasi (UP), Tryambakam in Maharashtra, Kedarnath in Himalayas and Ghrishneshvar in Verul (Maharashtra). One who recites these jyotirlingas every day is relieved of all past sins. Shankaracharya says just by remembering about jyotirlingas, all the sins will be washed off.