The Aura within - “Jyothirlinga”

Shiva, Varaha & Hamsa

Having visited three of the twelve jyothirlingas I decided to write about the significance and the meaning of Jyothirlingas. Shiva worship dates back to prehistoric times. Jyothirlinga where Jyothi means radiance and Lingam means image of Shiva, thus a jyothirlinga means “The radiant sign of almighty Shiva”. In mythology, when Brahma and Vishnu had an argument on ‘Who is superior, the one who creates or the one who sustains’. What is the greater power creation or sustenance, to settle this dispute Shiva appears in the form of a Pillar of Light (Jyothirlinga) and tells them whoever finds the origin or the end of the pillar will be the winner. Vishnu takes the form of a Varaha, a wild boar, and goes below the earth to find the foot of the Pillar of light while Brahma takes the form of a Hamsa (Swan), and flies above to find the crown of the pillar. The search seems endless and therefore Vishnu is humbled and concedes defeat and bows to Shiva. Brahma, in the meantime finds a flower falling down - the Ketaki flower or the Thaymboo (screwpine flower) and asks the flower where was it falling from. The flower replies that it was falling from the Top or crown of the jyothirlinga. The flower is coaxed into giving false evidence by Brahma of having reached the crown and having brought back the flower as proof. Brahma and Ketaki flower are cursed by Shiva. Ketaki flower is not used for worship and Brahma temples and followers are limited in number.

Jyothirlinga are 12 in number spread across India, therefore if the jyothirlinga was one Pillar of light how do we have 12 spots across India with Jyothirlingas. In pursuit of the answers I came across several explanations. What appealed to me most was that originally the temples were build as “Energy Zones” their location was geographically and astronomically significant. These locations show the existence of energy zones, the ancient temples existed in such energy zones. A long time ago, people with a certain level of perception very carefully calibrated these spaces and fixed those points according to the celestial movement. These spaces are created in a certain way, not just using human capabilities, but the forces of nature. This is the science of using life energies to enhance human life in a phenomenal way. The Jyothirlinga temples are dedicated to Shiva. Shiva temples usually do not have any Idol in human form they have and ellipsoid which is the linga. The jyothirlingas are essentially our connection points to the celestial powers of the universe. The location of these temples are also specific to terrain- two on the seashore, three on riverbanks, four on heights of mountains and three in villages located in the meadows.

Ramanathaswamy Temple

Being an Arian a visit to the Ramanathaswamy temple was interesting when I found out that Aries stands for sites of warfare used for prayer and worship before going to war, worship of the aspects of a God as a protector during warfare, giver of strength, motivation, decidedness, clear attitudes and victory. Aries stand for the gathering place of armies or warriors before the start of a war and important the sites of important oracles that were consulted before beginning a war. Interesting enough the legend of the only Jyotirlinga in Aries is the Ramanathaswamy shrine in Rameshwaram, in fact this site is directly related to a war. During the war of Rama the seventh incarnation of God Vishnu against the Asura King Ravana;  Rama`s army built a bridge from Rameshwaram to the island of Sri Lanka to prepare the attack. Rameshwaram thus represented the site of the gathering of Rama`s armies and the starting point of the attack on Sri Lanka. It is believed that Lord Rama made a linga of sand and whorshipped it and asked to be blessed so he could vanquish the Asura King Ravana. Lord Shiva blessed him accordingly. Lord Rama also requested Lord Shiva to reside eternally here for the benefit of mankind. Siva then manifested himself into a Jyothirlinga that radiates energy for eternity.

The shrine of the Grishneshwar Jyiotirlinga located near the famous Ellora cave temples has both astro-geographical coordinates in earth sign Capricorn.  And this is why the legend about how and why the Grishneshwar Jyiotirlinga was installed in the place that can serve as characteristic of that sign. It is a story about complete trust in the laws of the eternal manifestations of god and surrendering one`s own personal views, fears and limitations to the plane of divine knowledge and the service to god, one´s duties, obligations and the laws of fate, dharma, physics and higher knowledge. According to a legend, In the Devagiri mountain, there lived a Brahmin couple named Brahmavetta Sudharm and Sudeha, they had no children and complying to the wife’s wishes Brahmavetta married the sister of his wife, Ghushma. Gushma was a devout lady and prayed everyday to Lord Shiva making 101 lingas and immerse it into the nearby lake. In time Gushma gave birth to a Son, however her sister grew jealous of her and killed the baby and threw it in the same lake. Mourning painfully Gushma continued to worship the Shivalingas, and when she immersed them in the lake, Lord Shiva appeared before her and gave life to her son. Another Legend of this place is that once Parvati was about to fill her hair parting with vermillion and Saffron, in kamyavana. She kept it in her left palm and mixed water from the lake and with her right thumb she started to mix them, a miracle occurred and the mixture turned into a jyothirlinga. Lord Shiva explained that this Linga was hidden in Patala and he had removed it with his Trident. Parvati kept the linga of light into the stone linga, the completion of the linga complete this Jyothirlinga is also referred to as Kunkumeshwar, but since Dakshayani(Parvati) created a linga with friction (Grishma)of her thumb it was called Grishneshwara.

Trimbakeshwar town is an ancient Hindu Pilgrim centre located at the source of the Godavari River, the longest river in peninsular India. Trimbakeshwar is abode of one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. The extraordinary feature of the Jyotirlinga located here is the Linga in the temple is in the form of a three faced embodying Tridev- Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. It is the only Jyotirlinga where all the three Supreme gods dwell in the main sanctum. All three resides in a hollow space within the Shiva lingam.  The Shivalinga is said to be emerged naturally. the place is also known for its Simhastha Kumbha Mela, which comes every 12 years. This is associated with story of the churning of Ocean, Gods occupied immortal nectar from Asuras by fooling them. When the Asuras came to know of this, they fought with Gods for ‘Amritakumbha’(the pot bearing the amrut). In process drops of Amrit fell at four places – Haridwar, Prayag, Ujjain and Trimbakeshwar. This is also the birth place or origin of river Godawari. People worship Godavari as Ganga. Godavari river is also referred to as Dakshin Ganga. Lord Shiva resides here in the form of Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga.