Worship of Shivalinga is considered to be the prime worship for the devotees of Shiva. The word ‘lingam’ means a symbol of divine generative energy, especially a phallus or phallic object as a symbol of Shiva. There are thousands of lingam all over India, but some of them have special importance. The most important of these are called Jyotirlingas. These twelve Jyotirlingas have been depicted in the form Sanskrit shloka.
Here is the list of the famous twelve jyotirlingams
1. Somnath temple (Gujarat)
This oldest temple of Gujarat which finds its reference in the most ancient texts like Shreemad Bhagavat, Skandpuran, Shivpuran and Rig-Veda is well connected to major cities of India via regular trains and buses and nearest airport is Diu Airport.
2. Mallikarjuna temple (Andhra Pradesh)
The nearest airport is located at distance of about 232 kms from Srisailam. Nearest railway station is the Markapur Road. It is well connected by buses
3. Mahakaleshwar temple (Madhya Pradesh)
Nearest airport is Indore and is well connected by bus and railways from major cities.
4. Omkareshwara temple (Madhya Pradesh)
Direct train between Indore and Omkareshwar Road is available.
5. Kedarnath temple (Uttarakhand)
Numbers of buses are available from Delhi to Kedarnath. Delhi is well connected by buses, trains and flights from major cities.
6. Bhimshankara temple (Maharastra)
The nearest railway station, bus stand and airport is Pune. Regular buses are available between Pune and Bhimshankara
7. Kashi Vishwanath temple (Uttar Pradesh)
Varanasi is well connected by number of trains and buses from major cities.
8. Trimbakeshwar Temple (Maharastra)
Nasik is the nearest airport, railhead and bus stand. Trimbakeshwar is 200 kms from Nasik.
9. Ramanathaswamy temple (Tamil Nadu)
Rameshwaram is the nearest railway station.
10. Grishneshwar temple (Maharastra)
It is located in Aurangabad. Aurangabad is well connected by train and road from major cities.
11. Baidyanath temple (Jharkahnd)
Nearby airports are Ranchi, Gaya, Patna and Kolkata. Passenger buses run regularly from major cities.
12. Nageshwara temple (Gujarat)
The temple is 20 km away from Dwarka, which is well connected by buses from major cities.
Smrutirekha
