A Jyotirlinga' or Jyotirling or Jyotirlingam is a shrine where Lord Shiva, an aspect of God in Hinduism is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam or "Lingam (pillar) of light." There are twelve traditional Jyotirlinga shrines in India.
It is believed that Lord Shiva first manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Aridra Nakshatra, thus the special reverence for the Jyotirlinga. There is nothing to distinguish the appearance, but it is believed that a person can see these lingas as columns of fire piercing through the earth after he reaches a higher level of spiritual attainment. There are twelve Jyotirlingas in India and they are spread all over India.
As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of saving) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma 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, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva. At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva. The twelve jyothirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharastra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharastra, Vaidyanath at Deogarh in Jharkand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharastra.
Five Jyotirlinga in Maharashtra*
Aunda Naganath jyotirlinga: It is 120Km from Parli in Maharashtra. This is very old temple built by Rani Ahilya Bai. The place where the temple is there is called Darukavanam. The above shloka says 'Nagesam Darukavane' as such it is believed that this is the actual jyothirlinga.It is 51Km from Parbhani rail way station. Nandigram express( train No1401) which goes from Nagpur to Mumbai stops here.The main deity at aundha is in under ground. One can perform abhisheka by purchasing the ticket. The men need not remove their shirts while performing the abhisheka. After the abhisheka the silver cover on the linga is removed and one can have the darshan of the main deity. While coming out from the inner temple one has to climb a 3 feet step which is difficult for ladies and old people.
Some people say that the nagewar jyotirlingas is at Dwaraka.
Bhimashankar
It is one of the jyotirlingas which is not connected by train. you can reach it by road from pune or Shirdi or Mumbai . It is 120 Km from Pune and 170 Km from Shirdi. There is no proper accommodation for stay at Bhimashankar and one has to stay at Manchar which is 35Km from Bhimashankar on the way to Pune. Buses are available from Pune,Shivaji nagar bus stand(5Km from rly station) to Bhimashankar directly. First bus (Rs82) starts at 5.15AM.It is ghat road and journey is very enjoyable.
Ghrishneshwar
It is in Maharashtra and near by rail way station is Daulatabad which is 12Km from the temple. It is also well connected by road from Aurangabad. The temple is rebuilt by Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore around 1768. It is the only jyotirlinga where the deity faces east. Many people are not aware of this temple and people who are visiting shirdi can plan a trip to this temple easily.The deity is called Ghrushmeshwar.The goddess is Grishneshwari. The temple is at Ilapur and the village is called Verul.
Parli Vaijnath
The temple is 2Km from the Parli rail way station.It was rebuilt by Maharani Ahilya Bai in 1776. you can perform abhisheka your self by paying Rs 101. Men have to remove their shirts while performing the abhisheka. Out side the temple, Dakshin mukh Ganesh temple is there. Rani Ahilya Bai's (who has renovated many jyotirlingas ) statue is there in the temple complex. The temple water tank is also constructed like shiva linga only. It is also well connected by road from Nagpur and over night super deluxe buses are available.Bus takes 10hours. Parli vaijnath, is connected by direct trains from Secunderabad (340Km), Kakinada, Manmad, Visakhapatnam and Bangalore. Parbhani rail way station is 70Km from here which is on Nagpur-Mumbai train route.
Trimbakeshwar
It is in Maharashtra and it is 27 km from Nasik. Nasik road railway station is 188 km from Mumbai central . Trayambakeswar is 6 hours by road (bus Rs121) from Manchar which is near Bhimashankar. It is one of the Jyotirlingas where you are not allowed in the inner temple and you can not do abhisheka your self.The decoration of the deityis different in the morning and evening.
*Note : Though some believers believe that there are five jyotirlingas in Maharashtra the claimof Parli Vaijnath & Aundha Nagnath is widely disputed.
