Shiva Jyothirlinga

According to Śiva Mahāpurāṇa, once Brahma and Vishnu had an argument over supremacy of creation (refer earlier post). To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge 'Jyotirlinga' (endless pillar of light). The jyotirlinga symbolizes the supreme partless reality, of which Shiva manifests. 12 of the Jyotirlinga are considered to be very auspicious and at all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless 'Stambha' (pillar), symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva. The twelve Jyothirlinga are in:

1. Somnath (Gujarat)

2. Mallikarjuna at Srisailam (Andra Pradesh)

3. Mahakaleswar at Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh)

4. Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh

5. Kedarnath in Himalayas

6. Bhimashankar in Maharashtra

7. Viswanath at Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)

8. Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra

9. Vaidyanath at Deoghar (Jharkhand)

10. Aundha Nagnath (Maharashtra)

11. Rameshwar (Tamil Nadu) and 

12. Grishneshwar at Ellora (Maharashtra)