#THREAD

THE STORIES BEHIND 12 JYOTIRLINGS IN ABRIDGED FORM

Well in this thread i will try to explain all the stories of 12 Jyotirling in short way as per Shiv Puran.
1.Somnath:- Someshwar situated at Somnath: It is the first Jyotirling known to fulfill the wishes of the devotee.Daksha Prajapati was born out of the nail of Bramha.His 27 daughters were married to Chandrama,but Chandrama cared only for Rohini .
The remaining daughters complained to their father, who cursed him to disappear slowly to the dismay of the daughters and Chandrama. They pleaded to the father to take back his curse.Daksha advised him to do Tapasya at Somnath as Shiva dwelled there.
Chandrama prayed there for six months,then only Shivji appeared before him.Chandrama asked for forgiveness and pleaded for his life.He was granted this boon but with a small punishment since Daksha's curse could not be nullified.
He would appear and disappear fortnightly as waxing and waning of the moon.On Chandrama's request Shiva agreed to stay along with Girija at that place as Someshwar.
2. Mallikarjun:-On the question of marriage of Ganesh and Skand, it was decided that whoever completes the parikrama of the Prithvi first shall be the first to marry.Ganesha quickly went round his parents and told his parents that they were his Sansaar and won their hearts.
On returning, Skand realized what had happened and went away from Kailash. Parvati pleaded to her husband to get the son back.On learning that he was at krounchgiri,both of them went there.But Skand hid from them. They stayed back. The place now is known as Mallikarjun.
3. Mahakaleshwar:-It is said that Shiva destroyed the demon Dushan who was terrorizing and killing the Shivbhakts at Ujjaini.On the request of the devta's, Shiva saved the bhakts and stayed back as Mahakaleshwar.
4.Omkareshwar:- The story behind this shrine is that there was a conflict between the demons and the devta's,where the demons won and later devta's defeated them. As per Shivpuran it was Vindhya mountain who built this temple after
he realized his folly about his false ego that he was the mightiest of all mountains.Agastya Muni stopped him from growing taller at the behest of devta's.The constant chant of Om made him realize who was the mightiest.
5.Kedareshwar:-Akuti was the great granddaughter of Uttanpad and was married to Rishi Ruchi. Her two sons Nar and Narayan prayed at Badrikavan. It was in this place that Shivji appeared as Kedareshwar.Scriptures also mention that Krishna prayed here after killing Jarasandh.
6. Bhimashankar:-Bhima was demon born from Kumbhakaran's semen.On learning about the death of his father at the hands of Ram,he decided to take his revenge. He performed tapasya in the forest and was granted a boon by Shivji.
He then started destroying everything especially Shivbhakts.Even Vishnudev could not defeat him.Ultimately he was burnt to ashes by Shivji. So the place came to be known as Bhima Shankar.
7. Kashi Vishwanath:-This city was created by Brahma at the behest of Shiva whom he had created through the pond inside Vishnu"s sweat,who in turn was created through Shiva's left arm. It is said that manikarnika is the place where the kundal or ear ring of Vishnu fell.
This is the most prominent of all Jyotirlings situated at the banks of river Ganga. It is believed that whoever dies here gets Moksha directly. Shiva Puraan mentions this place as the second home of Shiva after Kailash.
It is the holiest of all places as Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh live here at the same time.

8.Triyambakeshwar:- It is situated at the bank of Godavari at Nashik which is also known as Gautami Godavari.
Gautam and Ahilya were blessed that they would have unlimited supply of foodgrains which angered the other Rishi's.The jealous rishis sent a cow to his ashram and killed it.Upset Gautami rishi performed tapasya.
Shiva appeared before him. At the request of the rishi,Shivji stayed back here as Trimbakeshwar. He also asked Shiva to send Ganga here.
9.Vaidhyanath :- The story is associated with Ravana about how he sacrificed his nine heads to make Shivji go along with him to Lanka.He wanted to make himself and Lanka invincible.
At the sacrifice of ninth head Shiva appeared before him and gifted him a shivling to be carried from Kailash without touching any part of the earth until its final destination. But it was Shivji's Maya that Ravana had an urge to attend the nature's call.
That time Ganesha disguised as shepherd Vaiju happened to come there. Ravana requested him to carry the lingam until his return. Since he did not return on time,Baiju kept the lingam down and disappeared.
The lingam established itself there and came to be known as Baijnath or Vaidyanath.

10.Nageshwar:- Daruk and Daruka both were demons. Daruka prayed to Girija and got a boon of an area of 16 yojan land that would go wherever she went.
Daruk then started terrorizing and enslaving people. One of the prisoner was Vaishyanath,a Shivbhakt.He made a parthiv(mud) lingam and kept on praying to Shiva.On being discovered, Daruk decided to kill him. But Shiva saved him. On request of Parvati,
Shiva did not kill but pardoned them.They were killed by King Babhru at Shiva's behest.

11.Rameshwaram:- The story is associated with Bhagwan Ram who is said to have built a parthiv lingam of Shiva for the safe passage to Lanka and getting back Sita.

Pic credit- @LostTemple7 ji
On Rama's request Shiva stayed back as Rameshwaram.
12. Ghusmeshwar:- This is the story of a devotee named Ghusma or Kusuma.She was respected by all for her devotion to Shiva. The jealous other wives of her husband killed her son.But Ghusma did not relinquish her daily routine of worship in her pain.
Shiva was so pleased that he appeared with her son alive and stayed there at Ghusma 's request.

My thread is based on Shiv Puran.
Please do comment how many Jyotirling are pending for you☺️🙏🏻
You can follow @Anshulspiritual.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: