Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh)

image credit : Mahakaleshwar

Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga’s shrine in Ujjain is an ancient and historic and was also called Avanti in Madhya Pradesh. Ujjain, a historic capital of Central India in Madhya Pradesh is a venerated pilgrimage centre enshrining Mahakaleshwara, one of the Jyotirlinga manifestations of Shiva. It was Ujjain that played a prominent role during the reign of the Mauryas and the Guptas and it was at Avanti the capital of Ujjain that Kind Udayana married princess Vasavadatta. Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Benares, Kanchipuram, Dwarka and Ujjain are considered to be the 7 Mukti Stalas of India. Ujjain is home to the Kumbha Mela, when Jupiter resides in the zodiac sign of Scorpio.

image credit : Mahakaleswar

This Temple is situated near a lake. The idol in the temple is known as Dakshinamurti, facing the south. The idols in the temple are all strategically placed like the images of Ganesh, Parvati and Karttikeya installed in the west, north and east direction respectively. The image of Nandi is situated in the south direction. The idol of Nagchandreshwar is situated in the third storey and pilgrims are allowed to pay homage to the diety only on the day of Nagapanchami.

Sree Sailam-Mallikarjun Temple (Andhra Pradesh)

Image credit : Mallikarjun Temple

The Sree Sailam Temple located in Kurnool district, is one of the 12 Jyotirlingam. Sri Sailam is a small city situated in the densely forested Nallamalai hills. This temple is considered very holy and is dedicated to Mallikarjuna Swamy and Bhramaramba. One unique feature of the temple is that all the devotees who visit the temple are allowed to touch the idol which is not prevalent in any other temple. The temple is located at a distance of 245 km from Hyderabad. Sree Sailam near Kurnool enshrines Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple rich in architectural and sculptural wealth. Adi Sankaracharya composed his Sivanandalahiri here.

Image credit : ceepeegul’s

The temple situated here is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is among the 12 Jyotirlingas in India. The temple sculptures narrate in stone, epics from thre great Hindu epics-Ramayana nand Mahabharata. The Sree Sailam temple has rich sculptural work, fort like walls and towers. The temple is built in Dravidian style. According to popular legends, the religious leader had visited the temple and had composed his famous Sivananda Lahiri. It is also believed that Goddess Durga had taken the form of a bee and worshiped Lord Shiva here and selected this holy place as her abode. There are some temples in the vicinity of Sree Sailam Temple, they are Tripurantakam to the east of Sree Sailam.

Somnath Temple

The temple of Somnath, one of the 12 Jyoti lingas of Lord Shiva is situated 79 Kms. from Junagadh and 25 Kms. from Chorwad. According to the legend, Somnath is as old as creation, built by none other than the Moon God himself. The remains of the temple of Somanath “withstood the shocks of time and survived the attacks of destroyers. The temple has imposing architecture and is a beautiful sight facing the blue expanse of the Arabian Sea. A short distance from the Somnath temple is Bakhla Tirth, where Lord Krishna was said to have been struck by the stray arrow of a Bhil tribal. The Present Temple, Kailash Mahameru Prasada is built in the chalukya style of temple architecture and reflects the inherent skill of Sompuras, Gujarat’s master masons.

Soma is the name for the moon, the son in-law of Daksha. Once Soma disobeyed a certain instruction of his father-in-law. Daksha was so angry that he cursed him, saying, “Thou shalt wane!” The moon, who used to shine in full splendor every night till then, started to shrink. However, before the curse brought about an absolute end to the moon, many a god requested Daksha to revoke his curse. Daksha asked Soma to take a bath in the sea at the mouth of the river Saraswati and then to pray to Lord Shiva. Hence at Prabhasa, Shiva came to be known as Somanath, the Lord of the moon.