12 Jyothirlinga Temples of India

 Lard Shiva is always considered to be the one who creates, saves and destroys not just the physical form but also the various illness both mental and physical that any human being has. In most parts of India, the Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of Shiva Linga.

Legend says - that once there was a fight between Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu as to who is the supreme one and to settle the debate Lord Shiva appeared as a very huge pillar of light and asked them to find the tip of his head and toe. That light later cooled down and became the holy hill of Arunachala - in Tamilnadu. 

Both Brahma and Vishnu then split themselves to the upper and the lower world to find the tip of the head and feet respectively and when Brahma returned and lied that he saw the tip of Shiva's head The story goes that the fragrant screw pine flower - Thazhampoo in Tamil was falling down from Shiva's head and when Brahma saw that he requested the flower to lie to Shiva that he took it from his head and as the flower did so, both Brahma and the flower were cursed by Lord Shiva. That the flower will not be used for Shiva's pooja any more and that Lord Brahma though the creator of the world will not have physical temples to worship.  

Jyothirlingas are the 12 Shivalinga moorthis of Lord Shiva strategically placed across the country in 12 different locations. The word Jyothi means the light. The Shiva Purana mentions 64 Jyothirlingas but amongst them 12 are more sacred and they are called Maha Jyothirlingas. 

The places where Lord Shiva appeared in the form of light are regarded as the Jyothirlinga temple sites. The primary idol in all these temples are Shivalinga representing the beginningless and the endless sthamba - the pillar which represents the infinite nature of Lord Shiva. 

The 12 Maha Jyothirlingas are located in the following places:

1. Somnath, Veeruval, Gujarat

2. Rameshwar, Rameshwaram, Tamilnadu

3. Kedarnath, Kedarnath, Uttarakhand

4. Nageshwar, Near Dwaraka, Gujarat

5. Mahakaleshwar, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

6. Mallikarjuna, Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh

7. Omkareshwar, Khandwa, Madhyapradesh

8. Viswanath, Kasi, Uttarpradesh

9. Bhimshankar, Pune, Maharashtra

10. Triambakeshwar, Nashik, Maharashtra

11. Baidhyanath, Deoghar, Jharkhand

12. Grishneshwar, Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Though these 12 places of worship of Lord Shiva are Jyothirlinga sites, still there are no individual significant marking to give these places a special reverence. 

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Pachmarhi - only hill station in Central India

Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh is one and only hill station in central India. It is regarded as a walker's paradise. Pachmarhi is located in the Satpura ranges and is about 200 kms from Bhopal. The whole of Pachmarhi is a saucer shaped valley which was discovered by James Forsyth in 1857 and it had been a contonment of British and so one can find a lot of monuments and Churches from the British era.

How to Reach Pachmarhi
The nearest airport is at Bhopal and is 210 kms away. Pipariya is the nearest railway station which is 47kms away. Pachmarhi is connected with Nagpur, Bhopal and Pipariya via road.

Best time to visit
Best time to visit Pachmarhi is from April to July and almost all through the year except during rainy season.

Things to do when at Pachmarhi
Take long walks
Walk to Jata Shanker cave
Walk to Churagarh
Trek in the woods in the Satpura range.