List of Shiva temples in India

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Related Nandi Tantrism Jyotirlinga Shiva Temples

Shiva is a Hindu deity worshipped by Shaivaites in India as the destroyer of ignorance spread all across the universe. As one of the three main gods in the Hindu pantheon, there are many temples dedicated to his worship in India (and abroad). The most prominent of these are the Jyotirlinga temples and Mellacheruvu Swayabhu Shambhulingeshwara Swami. In Shaivism, Shiva is the god of all and is described as worshipped by all, including Devas (gods) like Brahma and Indra, Asuras (demons) like Banasura and Ravana, humans like Adi Shankara and Nayanars, and creatures as diverse as Jatayu, an eagle, and Vali, an ape. Deities, rishis (sages), and grahas (planets) worshipped Shiva and established Shivalingas in various places.

Jyotirlinga temples

Somnath

Mallikarjunaswamy

Mahakaleshwar

Omkareshwar

Baidyanath

Bhimashankar

Rameshwaram

Nageshwar

Vishwanath

Triambkeshwar

Kedarnath

Grineshwar

Location of 12 Jyotirlinga temples.

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples as mentioned in the Shiva Purana are as listed below.^[1]

#	Jyotirlinga		Location
1	Somnath		Prabhas Patan, near Veraval, Gujarat
2	Mallikarjuna Swamy		Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
3	Mahakaleshwar		Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
4	Omkareshwar		near Indore, Madhya Pradesh
5	Kedarnath		Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
6	Bhimashankar		Pune, Maharashtra
7	Kashi Vishwanath		Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
8	Trimbakeshwar		Trimbak, near Nasik, Maharashtra
9	Baidyanath	Baidyanath Dham	Deoghar, Jharkhand
10	Nageshwar		Jamnagar, Gujarat
11	Ramanathaswamy		Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
12	Grishneshwar		Ellora, Maharashtra

Pancha Bootha Sthalas (Five Elemental Manifestations)

In South India, five temples of Shiva are held to be particularly important, as being manifestations of him in the five elemental substances.

Deity		Manifestation	Location
Jambukeshwar		Water	Thiruvanaikaval, Tamil Nadu
Arunachaleswar		Fire	Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Kalahastheeswar		Air	Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh
Kanchipuram		Earth	Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu
Nataraja		Sky	Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu

Panchaaraama temples

The Pancharama Kshetras (or the Pancharamas) are five ancient Hindu temples of Lord Shiva situated in Andhra Pradesh. The Sivalingas at these temples are made from a single Sivalinga. As per the legend, this Sivalinga was owned by the demon king Tarakasura. No one could win over him due to the power of this Sivalinga. Finally, Lord Kumaraswamy, the son of Lord Shiva broke the Sivalinga into five pieces and killed Tarakasura. The five pieces of Sivalinga fell at five different places on earth namely,

Bhimesvara Swamy Temple in Draksharama, one of the Pancharama Kshetras

Sabha temples

The five temples located in Tamil Nadu where Shiva is believed to perform Bharata Natyam dance are:

Shani Parihara Temples

The five temples located in Tamil Nadu where Shiva is believed to perform Bharata Natyam dance are:

Other notable temples

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shiv Temples in India.

• Pakshi Theertham

References