Connect to Your Soul through Jyotirlinga
Jyotirlingas are an important part of Vedic culture and have been mentioned in various texts including the Puranas. Jyotirlinga refers to the 12 special shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, the most sacred and powerful Shiva temples capable of fulfilling the wishes of devotees. They are spread across India from north to south. It is believed that if a person visits all the 12 Jyotirlingas in their lifetime, they will attain Moksha, or liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
The word "Jyotirlinga" is derived from two words: "Jyoti" meaning light and "linga" meaning the emblem of Shiva. The Jyotirlingas are self-manifested (swayambhu) and so they are considered to be extremely sacred by devotees of Lord Shiva. Each of the 12 Jyotirlingas is associated with a different story or legend from Hindu mythology. For example, the Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga was built by Lord Rama who prayed to the Linga before he walked across Ramsetu and reached Srilanka to save his wife Sita from the Demon (Asura) King Ravana, likewise the Somnath Jyotirlinga was built by the Chandra (Moon God), to worship Lord Shiva, while the Kedarnath Jyotirlinga is the place where Lord Shiva granted a boon to the Pandavas, the heroes of the epic, the Mahabharata.
The Jyotirlingas are also associated with different names of Lord Shiva. For example, the Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga is associated with the name Omkareshwar, which means the Lord of Omkara (the word OM), while the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is associated with the name Mahakaleshwar, which means the Lord of Time.
The 12 Jyotirlingas are
Rameshwaram in Tamilnadu
Somnath in Gujarat
Nageshwar in Gujarat
Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh
Vaidyanath in Jharkhand
Mallikarjuna in Andhra Pradesh
Mahakaleshwar in Madhya Pradesh
Grishneshwar in Maharashtra
Vishwanath in Uttar Pradesh
Bhimashankar in Maharashtra
Kedarnath in Uttarakhand
Tryambakeshwar in Maharashtra
Each of these Jyotirlingas are associated with a zodiac sign in the same order from Aries to Pisces. Worshipping the Jyotirlinga of your Atmakaraka is auspicous. Find the Navamsha sign that holds the Atmakaraka of your birth chart and worship the associated Jyotilinga. Devotees of Lord Shiva visit the Jyotirlingas throughout the year, but special importance is given to certain auspicious days like Mahashivratri and Shravan month (July-August), when the temples are crowded with devotees.