The Twelve Jyotirlingas: Names, Places, Legends and How to Visit

A linga is the simple, rounded form in which Shiva is worshipped. A jyotirlinga, from jyoti, “light”, is a linga that the tradition holds to be a place where Shiva became manifest as an endless shaft of light. Twelve such places are named in the traditional list, spread from the coast of Gujarat to the Himalaya and the southern tip of the peninsula. Many Hindus hope to visit them over a lifetime, and some plan the journey as one long pilgrimage, while others visit a few at a time. This page lists them, tells the story that gives them their name, and says honestly where the sources disagree.

The pillar of light

The Shiva Purana tells how Brahma, the creator, and Vishnu, the preserver, once argued about which of them was the greater. In the middle of the argument a vast pillar of fire appeared between them, without a beginning or an end. They agreed to find its limits. Vishnu took the form of a boar and dug downwards, and Brahma took the form of a swan and flew upwards. Vishnu searched for a very long time and returned, admitting he could not find the base. Brahma, in the story, claimed to have seen the top, and offered a ketaki flower as a witness. Shiva then appeared from the pillar, rebuked Brahma’s falsehood, and was honoured by both.

The tradition then says that this column of light has appeared at many places, and that the twelve in the list are the greatest of them. The story is a teaching about the limits of pride and the nature of the divine as beyond measure. It is a sacred narrative and not an event with a date.

What the texts say

The Shiva Purana gives the list of twelve in its Shatarudra Samhita and tells the story of each in its Kotirudra Samhita. A short Sanskrit hymn, the Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotra, names the twelve in one verse each, and it is traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara. Scholars are cautious about that attribution, as they are about many stotras. We have no page for the hymn on this site yet, and we do not reproduce it here.

The order of the list is the order of the hymn. It is not a ranking, and every one of the twelve is held to be complete in itself. Some of the place names in the old texts are short and general, and this is the reason for the disagreements described below.

The twelve at a glance

The airports and stations in this table are the nearest ones commonly given, and each page adds the road distance and the other options. Services change, so check them before you book. Each page also says where to read the temple’s own information, since timings, fees and booking rules are decided by the temple or its trust and are not given on this site.

The three disputed sites

For three of the twelve, more than one temple claims the name.

• Vaidyanath: Baidyanath Dham at Deoghar in Jharkhand, Parli Vaijnath in Maharashtra, and Baijnath in Himachal Pradesh. See the Vaidyanath page.
• Nageshwar: the temple near Dwarka in Gujarat, Aundha Nagnath in Maharashtra, and Jageshwar in Uttarakhand. See the Nageshwar page.
• Bhimashankar: the temple in the hills of Pune district, Maharashtra, the shrine near Guwahati in Assam, and Moteshwar Mahadev at Kashipur in Uttarakhand. See the Bhimashankar page.

We name every claimant and cover the one most pilgrims visit in detail. We do not judge between them, and a devotee who prays at any of them is not in error.

Planning a visit

Groupings make planning easier. Somnath and Nageshwar both lie in Gujarat, and the Char Dham site of Dwarka sits between them. Mahakaleshwar and Omkareshwar are a few hours apart in Madhya Pradesh. Trimbakeshwar, Grishneshwar and Bhimashankar are all in Maharashtra, and Rameswaram is on the far south-east coast. Kedarnath needs its own planning because of the height and the season, and our Kedarnath page explains why.

Rameswaram and Kedarnath also belong to the larger pilgrimage circuits described on the Char Dham and Chota Char Dham pages.

Worship and etiquette in general

The basic offering at every jyotirlinga is the same: water, bel leaves and flowers, with the mantra Om Namah Shivaya. Many pilgrims also recite the Lingashtakam or the Rudrashtakam. Dress modestly, remove footwear, and respect the queue and the rules of the temple. For a home guide to the great night of Shiva, see our Maha Shivaratri puja, and to the weekly fast, the Monday vrat.

Frequently asked questions