Hara Hara Mahaa deva Shambho Shankara. Lord shiv my Favourite God. In this article we Come up with the most famous and powerful Lord Shiv temples to visit. Before going with the temples let me explain you why Lord shiv is so special for everyone.
Lord Shiv is an innocent God and often grants boon to people even if they are evil at heart. This is one of the reasons why he is also called as ‘Bholenath’.
He is also known as ‘Shmashana Adhipati’ which means ‘the one who rules the crematorium’. It is said that Shiva is the inhabitant of the cremation ground.
He is a frequent consumer of ‘bhaang’. So,People consume it during the festival of Holi to honour him.
Unlike other Gods who are depicted as draping themselves in expensive and bright coloured clothes, jewels, Shiva wears animal skin, and covers his body with ‘bhasma’ or ash which represents the end of human life.
He is a brave God who not only drinks poison, but also wears a dangerous cobra around his neck. This shows that he is beyond the death.
He always lives and meditates on the isolated snow-capped mountains of Kailash, unlike other Gods who live in their own respective kingdoms.
Let us see the famous and powerful temples of Lord Shiv to visit:
1. Mallikarjuna Swamy, Andhra Pradesh
Located at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple is yet another jyotirlinga shrine on the bank of the River Krishna.Lord Shiva is worshipped here in the form of Mallikarjun and Goddess Parvati is worshipped here as Bhadrakali.
2. Srikalahasti Temple, Andhra Pradesh
Associated with the myth of Kannapa’s sacrifice of his eyes, Srikalahasti Temple is located in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The temple is considered amongst the Pancha Bhuta Sthalas and Lord Shiva is worshiped here as Kalahasteeswara. Sri Kalahasti Temple is always crowded with Rahu Ketu Pooja, with Devotees coming from different parts of the Country.
3. Kapileswara Temple, Andrapradesh
One and half miles from Tirupati at the mountain foot of 'Sheshadri' hill there is a temple where Kapileswara abides in the form of Linga (Phallus) called "Kapila Teertham". The Shiva Lingam is made of brass in one of the shrines at Kapila Teertham.
4. Yaganti Uma Maheswara Temple, Andrapradesh
Shiv, parvathi and Nandi are the main deities in this temple.This temple is 14 km away from Banaganipalli in Kurnool district.The devotees believe that the Nandi ( Bullock , Lord Shiva’s) idol in front of the temple is continuously increasing its size. The locals say that the idol was initially much smaller than its present size.
5. Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
Located on the Garhwal Himalayan Range of Uttarakhand near Mandakini River, Kedarnath Temple is a highly esteemed Shiva Temple for Hindus across the world.
6. Somnath, Gujarat
The historical temple of Somnath is located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra. It is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and gains prestigious position among the Hindus.
7. Mahakaleshwar, Madhya Pradesh
The temple of Mahakaleshwar is located in the city of Ujjain in Madhyapradesh. The deity Mahakal is the Lord of death of all three Lokas, i.e., heaven, earth, and hades.The main attraction of this Jyotirlinga Temple is the Bhasma Arati which is a must see religious site for the devotees.
8. Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh
Located on an island shaped like the Hindu spiritual symbol Om, Omkareshwar Temple is situated in the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh.The deity is worshipped here three times a day by different priests instead of the same temple head performing it at all three times. The morning worship is done by the temple trust, the Puja at mid day is done by the priest of Scindia state while the evening one is performed by the priest of the Holkar state. The idol of Lord Omkareshwar is three-headed and its appearance is backed by significant mythologies. To see the most colourful face of this temple, tourists should travel here on Monday or during Shravana, the fifth month of the Hindu calendar.
9. Bhimashankar, Maharashtra
A Jyotirlinga temple located in Pune, Maharashtra, Bhimashankar Temple is found at place from where the river Bhima starts its journey. According to Hindu mythology, Tripurasur, a demon did penance in the deepest jungle of Bhimashankar and pleased Lord Shiva who blessed him with the gift of immortality. He was told that he should use the blessing for the betterment of humans or else he will have to lose his life. In the course of time he forgot the condition and started disobeying the order of the Gods. To stop his evil deeds,Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati took a new form called Ardhanarishwara who ultimately killed Bhimashankar. It is after this incident that Bhimashankar turned into a revered religious site.
10. Kashi Vishwanath, Uttar Pradesh
One, who takes breathes his last in Kashi Vishwanath, gets liberated from the cycle of rebirth and that is why Vishwanath, the lord of the world is the shelter of all devoted souls. The temple of Kashi Vishwanath is located in Varanasi and counted among the twelve Jyotirlingas.
11. Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra
Located at a distance of around 28km from the city of Nashik, Trimbakeshwar is a Jyotirlinga Temple found at the source of Godavari River.The lingam of Shiva in the temple depicts three faces embodying Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma and Lord Rudra. The lingas are adorned with three distinct golden crowns jaded by diamond and expensive gems.
12. Vaidyanath, Deoghar, Jharkhand
Vaidya means doctor and Nath denotes Lord, so the literal meaning of Vaidyanath is the Lord who acted as doctors. The temple has a connection with the mythological incident of Ravana who sacrificed his ten heads in a bid to please Lord Shiva. It is believed that, Shiva being pleased with Ravana’s devotion came down to Deoghar and treated the severed head of Ravana as a doctor.
13. Nageshwar, Dwarka, Gujarat
A historically enriched temple standing at the site of 5 formerly demolished cities, Nageshwar is situated on the coast of Saurshtra in Gujarat.Shiva is worshipped in Nageshwar as a Jyotirlinga and can be seen in an underground sanctum.
14. Ramanathaswamy, Tamil Nadu
Ramanathaswamy Temple is located in an island in Tamil Nadu called Rameshwaram.This temple was built at the same place where Lord Rama worshipped Shiva to get rid of the sin he did killing Ravana, a Brahmin.
15. Grishneshwar, Maharashtra
Believed to be the last Jyotirlinga temple on earth, Grishneshwar is located at a village near Daulatavad (Devgiri) called Verul. The formation of the temple is associated with a very interesting story of Shiva Puran which states the devotion of Grushma and how she got back her son who was killed by her jealous sister. The temple got its name from this incident and thus known as Ghushmeswara or Grushmeswara as well.
16. Amarnath Temple, Kashmir
Located in the state of Jammu and Kashmir State in India, this temple is perched at a height of 3888 m in a hallowed cave known by the name of Lord Amarnath. The main attraction of this religious site is the naturally appearingice lingam of Lord Shiva which is formed once in a year.
17. Brihadeswarar Temple, Tamil Nadu
Located in Thanjavur (Tanjore), The temple of Brihadeeswarar encloses a giant statue of Nandi which is carved out of a single rock.
18. Shore Temple, Tamil Nadu
Located on the shore of Bay of Bengal in Mahabalipuram.Built of huge blocks of granite, the temple constitutes a significant part of the temple complex of Mahabalipuram.
19. Lingaraj Temple, Odisha
Shiva is worshipped here as Tribhuvaneshwara and his consort is worshipped as Bhubaneshwari. Lingaraj Temple is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneshwar city of Odisha. It is dedicated to Lord Harihara, an incarnation of Lord Shiva, the temple is believed to be constructed by the kings of Somavamsi dynasty and later modified the rulers of Ganga Dynasty.
20. Kotilingeshwara Temple, Karnataka
Literally the temple of around one crore number of Shivalingam, the Kotilingeshwara Temple is located in Kammasandra village of Kolar district.
21. Daksheswara Mahadev Temple, Haridwar
The temple is named after Daksha Prajapati who was the father of Devi Sati, an incarnation of Goddess Durga.
Why cant you plan your long weekend to visit any one of the above temples and get blessing from Lord Shiv for all your family members.? Think..
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