Maha Shivaratri Festival 2022

Sri Ganeshaya Namaha
Sri Gurubhoy namaha
Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Parabrahmane namaha

Dwadasa jyotirling

There is Twelve jyotirlinga in India known as Dwadasa Jyothirling to honor and worship Lord Shiva. During shivaratri pilgrims visit to perform Pooja and Abhishekam. Lord Shiva is named with 12 different names and its origin is specific and important with historical events.
Shivratri is an important festival in Dwadasa Jyothirling. Morning to midnight special pooja and darshan is arranged for pilgrims with all facilities. A lot of devotees visit any one of Jyothirling on the occasion of Shivratri to achieve the fruits of the festival. One who visits Dwadasa Jyothirling during his lifetime overcomes rebirth and sins of Seven birth.

Somnath

Somnath is the first Jyothirling and is situated in Gujarat. River Saraswati, Kapila and Hiran meets in holy place known as Triveni Sangam Daksha Prajapati is Brahma maanasa son and one of Nava brahma. He got 64 daughters out of 27 are stars like ashwini bharani. He performed the marriage of his 27 daughters with Lord Chandra. Lord Chandra got special love and attraction towards his wife Rohini.
Therefore other wives complained to Daksha regarding ill treatment towards them and Daksha cursed Lord Chandra to suffer from an incurable disease. Lord Chandra suffered from leprosy and day by day he’s becoming weak and lost his luste. During the night there is no light. Then rushiand Devatha accompanied Lord Chandra and requested Lord Brahma for immediate relief. Then Lord Brahma explained the importance of Sourastra and Prabhasa Kshetra.

Lord Brahma gave Maha mrityunjaya mantra to Lord Chandra and the same mantra was performed for 6 months in front of Pardhiva Shivling ie. mud shivling. Lord Chandra was blessed by Lord Shiva with the boon to improve his health. Lord Chandra can give light to the world for a period of 15 days in a month from Amavasya to Purnima by increasing his energy called Shukla paksha thereafter from Poornima to amavasya he’s energy will be decreased which is called Krishna Paksha. it is because of the curse by Daksha. Since then Lord Shiva is named Somnath. Today it is the first Jyothirling in the world.

Srisaila mallikarjuna

it is the second dwadash jyotirling situated in Andra Pradesh. Krishna River flows in Srisailam and 2nd Hydroelectric station in India. Sri means shakti Sheila means mountain or rock malikarjuna means living with white center flowers. Bramarambika is shakti. This place is called Sri Sheila Mallikarjuna Bramarambika. The Shakti BramarambiBramarambika is in form of the male gender and purush Lord Shiva is in form of the female gender.
This place was visited by Rushi Vedvyas, Maharashi Agustya along with his wife Lopamudra Lord Rama visited along with Sita and Lakshmana, in Treyta Yug and in Dwapar yug Pancha Pandava along with Draupadi visited this place. There are 2 stories related to this jyotirlinga one is according to Puranas another is it’s a history.

According to Puranas, the children of Lord Shiva and Parvati are Ganesh and Skanda. There was a quarrel among them to become the leader of Rudraganas and a test was given by Shiva parvati to make three rounds that is pradakshina to Trilok and who comes first he will become the leader of rudra gaana. As we know Lord Ganesh is intelligent and he made 3 rounds to his parents Siva Parvathi and completed tasks and won the competition. Then Lord Shiva Parvati declared Lord Ganesh as leader of Rudra gaana.
Thereafter Lord karthikeya another son of Shiva Parvati in aggressive mood left Kailash and cane to stay in srisailam and refused to meet his parents Shiva parvati. Out of love and affection towards his son, Mata Parvati came to srisailam and requested him to meet him, even then Lord karthikeya refused to meet Mata Parvati. Then Lord Shiva also accompanied to stay with Mata Parvati in srisailam and after coming to know the facts Lord Ganesha came to srisailam to stay along with his parents. Today he is famous as Sakshi Ganapati. It is believed that devotees have to visit Sakshi Ganapathi first and then they have to take darshan of Mallikarjuna Bramarambika Devi.

The historical story says Srisaila was ruled by Chandragupta. He got only a daughter by the name of Chandravathi. During her childhood, he left home for 16 years to succeed in war. On his return, he has seen a beautiful daughter and wanted to stay with her. She refused and jumped in the Krishna river and reached Srisailam.
Chandravathi worshipped Lord Shiva with white scented flowers, since then he was named Mallikarjun. There is the viewpoint of temple Shikara. Any devotee who vision Temple Shikaram, attain moksha within six months. Today it is famous as one of Jyothirling.

Mahakaleshwar

It is the 3rd jyotirlinga situated in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh of Shipra river a tributary if Chambal river. Once Upon a time in Ujjain a well-versed brahman purohit by the name vedpriya used to worship Lord Shiva along with his 4 sons. In Ratnamala mountain a demon Doshana used to spoil pooja, Havan and also kill the local people. One day demon try to attack Vedpriya Pandit and his sons then they escaped and pray Clay Shivling.

Immediately Lord Shiva came out of Inform of Jyothi from Shivling and killed demon dushana. Then Pandit Vishnu Priya was blessed with the boon to worship as Mahakaleshwar. Shakti is Mahasiddhi as Sati’s elbow fallen in this place. Every twelve years Kumbhamela is conducted and Indian standard Time is calculated from Ujjain and it is the navel point of India. It is the center for all Skills and is ruled by Bhojaraja of Avanti. Today it is famous as Ujjain Mahakaleshwar.

Omkareshwar

It is the fourth Shivling situated in Madhya Pradesh and the Narmada river flows in this place. Vindhya Mountain felt inferior regarding the supremacy of Mont Meru and same questioned Narada how to become more powerful than Meru Mount. Narada replied God, Rushi, and devatha stay on Mount Meru and you are not blessed with it, so there is no possibility to become like Mount Meru.

Vindhya was disappointed but decided to achieve supremacy. Vindhya created Omkar yantra on his Mount and install clay Shivling and worshipped Lord Shiva for 100 months. Lord Shiva appeared and Mount vindhya made a request to stay all God, rushi, and Devatha on his Mount and he was blessed by Lord Shiva that all visit your Mount and this place is named Omkareshwar. Today it is famous as one of Jyothirling.

Vaidyanath

It is the fifth Jyothirling situated in Baidyanath, Bihar. It is a funeral place. This Shivling is installed by Ravana Brahma. Every day Ravana used to visit Kailash Mountain to worship Lord Shiva. One fine day Ravana couldn’t have darshan of Shiva and Ravana performed Tapasya to vision Lord Shiva. But in vain Shiva didn’t appear, then Ravana spilled one by one his head and when he tried to cut his 10th head Shiva appeared and granted the boon. Then Ravana asked Atma ling and he granted the same condition not to keep on earth till he reaches Lanka.

As sunset begins he has given amazing to cowboy (Lord Ganesh) to hold until the comeback. When Ravana started pooja to Lord Surya, Cowboy called Ravana and kept Atmaling on earth and ran away. When Ravana saw Atmaling was disappeared in Patallok and he couldn’t take it out to Lanka. Since then he worshipped Atmaling in this place. Today it is worshipped as Vaidyanath Jyothirling.

Bhīma Shanker

It is Sixth Jyothirling situated at Pune, Maharashtra. It is the source of Bhima river merges with River Krishna.There was a demon by name Bhima son of Kumbhakarna and Karkati. Bhima performed Tapasya for 1000 years to please Lord Brahma. With blessings and boon from Lord Brahma, he captured Swarglok and ruled for several years.

Thereafter he ruled this place and exiled Shiva devotee by the name Sudakshina. Even in jail, he worshipped clay Shivling, then demon Bhima tried to kill Sudakshina, Lord Shiva appeared, from the light of his third eye he made demon Bhima into ashes. Thereafter Lord Shiva is worshipped as Bhima Shanker Jyothirling.

Rameshwaram

It is Seventh Jyothirling situated at Rameshwaram, Tamilnadu. After success in war with Ravana Brahma, Lord Rama along with Sitamata, Lakshman, and Hanuman traveled to Ayodhya, he requested to install Shivling to overcome the curse of Killing Ravana. He directed Lord Hanuman to get Shivling from Kailash to install on auspicious time.

Delayed by Lord Hanuman, Rama directed Sitamata to prepare Saikat Shivling with sand and installed the same. After seeing it Lord Hanuman weep for his delay, then Rama told him to install Shivling behind Sand Shivling. Thereafter Sand Shivling is called; Ramalingeshwar and another is Hanumadheeshwara Shivling. Both are worshipped as Jyotirlinga.

Nageshwaram

It is the eighth Jyothirling situated at Dharukavan,  Dwaraka, Gujarat. Supriya an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and also a great businessman was harassed and kept in exile by demon Daruka.  The demon along with his wife used to harass Shiva’s disciples. Even in exile, Bhakt Supriya worshipped Lord Shiva by wearing Bhasm and Rudraksha along with other devotees in exile.

The Demon came to know his worship and tried to beat him with axe. When Devotees crave Lord Shiva’s help, he appeared like a snake and a light appeared from Mani of snake killed the demon and his wife.  Since then  Lord Shiva worshipped Nagesha Jyothirlingam in Dwaraka.

Kasi Vishwanath

It is Ninth Jyothirling Situated in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. In Kasi there are two rivers Varuna and Asi is Varanasi. The Supreme diety is Vishwanath and Shakti is Annapurna Devi. Kshetrapal is Kalabhiarava. Any tourist who visit Kasi compulsory take darshan of Kalabhiarava and offer Dry Coconut piece with Jaggery. Likewise, offer 11 rupees to Sankata Mocha Hanuman. Similarly, offer any utensils to Mata Annapurna. Holy Ganges flow in significant ghats. Manikarnika ghat is famous. Devotees come to die in Kasi for Moksha Prapti.
Staying nine days is auspicious for devotees. It is called Kalpavas.

Flowers and bhel leaves are more available in the market. No words are enough to describe the Power of Kasi Vishwanath. Let us discuss its creation. When Narayana and Prakriti evolved there is only holy water but no earth to perform Tapasya. Then Brahma with his energy created Kasi for performing Tapasya of Lord Narayana. With the water drops from the body of Narayan and flooded Kasi and undergone into water. Then Lord Shiva with his Trishul lifted Kasi. Even today it is believed Kasi city is on Trishul of Siva. Then from Navel of Narayan, Lotus was created, and lord Brahma was born From lotus and created 14 lokas. Lord Shiva enjoyed the creation and blessed them to stay in Kasi as Vishwanath Jyothirling.

Trayambhakeshwar

It is 10th Jyothirling situated at Nasik, Trayembhakeshwar, Maharashtra. It is the origin place of the River Godavari in Brahma Giri Hills. Rushi Gautam and his wife Ahalya performed Tapasya on Brahma Giri. During their, Tapasya Cow was killed by throwing grass by Gautam Rishi. He performed Tapasya to overcome the curse of Killing cows. Upon his request, Lord Shiva floated river Godavari. Furthermore, Lakshman cut the nose of the sister of Ravana.

She is famous as Shurpanakka. Lord Shiva is worshipped as Jyotriling. Once in twelve years, Kumbhamela is conducted. There are three Shivling known as Triambaka. There are many Medicinal plants available in and around. There is also a SphatikMani tree visible to all. It is in form of seeds. To overcome the curse of Killing a cow one has to visit this temple. Today it is a famous temple across India.

Kedarnath

It is 11th Jyothirling situated at Kedarnath, Himalayas. During Chardham, Yatra Pilgrims visit the Kedarnath temple. On East Alakananda river flows and West Mandakini River Flows. All these names are river Ganges. Maa Ganga evolution from right leg thumb of Lord Vishnu. While taking sacred water Pandit recites Vishnu Padodakam Shubham. Nar Narayan worshipped clay Shivling at Kedarnath and they were blessed by Lord Shiva for their penance and devotion. Today it is famous as Kedareshwar Jyothirling.

Grushneshwar

It is Twelfth Jyothirling Situated in Maharashtra. Once upon a time Sudharma and his wife Sudheha are childless and he married again to his wife’s sister Grushva who is Lord Shiva’s devotee. She delivered a baby boy. But her sister Sudheha killed Grushva son and thrown into the river. When she went to the river to get water with the grace of Lord Shiva that boy became alive. Since then Lord Shiva worshipped Grushneshwar Jyothirling.

Devotees are not aware of the fruits of visiting Dwadasa Jyothirling. Jyotirlinga is not made or prepared. It is the devotion of Tapsya and Shakti of Shiva and his devotees. Visiting each Jyothirling gives specific results and blessings of Lord Shiva Some Tourist travel Dwadasa Jyothirling at a time