Somanath Temple
1) Somanath Jyotirlinga :Jai Somnath. It is in Gujarat and one can go by Somanath express(trainNo1464) which goes from Jabalpur to somanath via Bhopal, Ujjain, Ahmedabad, Rajkot. Somanath is 79 Km from Junagudh.The temple is rebuilt by Maharani Ahilya Bai of Indore in 18th century.The original temple was destroyed by Md Ghajani in 1025 and rebuilt immediately by King Bhima of Gujarat and King Bhoja of Malwa.Later It was destroyed by Md Allauddin Khilji in 1300 and rebuilt by King Mahipala. Later it was destroyed number times and finally by Aurangzeb. It is said that the original shivalinga was hidden by the locals and was reinstalled in the temple built by the Maharani Ahilya Bai. Other places of interest are Gita mandir,Laxminarayana mandir and Parshuram mandir. It is said that Bhagawan Parshuram is relieved of his curse of killing Kshatriyas by Bhagawan Somnath.
Dwaraka is another Jyotirlinga in Gujrat which is 233 Km by road from here.
Stay: Good hotels are not available for accommodation at Somnath and one can stay at Veraval which is 7 Km from Somnath.
Food :Dokala a delicious gujarati dish is available in break fast. Raw khajoor is availble in the season which we may not find in any part of the India except Rajasthan. Thali is available for Rs40.
Near by places: Bakhla Tirth 5 Km from Somanath where lord Krishna has left his body when he was hit by arrow made by stone tip by a Bhil tribal. Famous Gir forest where you can find Asiatic Lions.You need at least two days to see the Gir forest. Gir forest is 42 Km from Junagudh and almost same distance from Somanath. Veraval beach is 5 Km from somnath. Porbandar, the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi is 103 Km from here. Veraval beach is 5 Km from Somnath.
Nearest Air port : Porbandar 103 km
Srisailam Temple
2)Srisailam Jyotirlinga : It is in Andhra Pradesh and it is well connected by road than train. One can go by bus or taxi to Srisailam from Hyderabad. The distance is nearly 232 Km .Nearest railway stations are Vinukonda(120Km), Markapur(85Km) and Kurnool(190Km). Markapur is in Guntur -Hubli route. Here the deity is called as Lord Mallikarjuna. It is said that Adi Shankaracharya has visited this temple and composed Sivananda Lahari here. You can perform abhisheka your self by purchasing the ticket.The goddess is Bhramarambika Devi and it is one of the 18 shaktipeethas. Neck part of goddess sati has fallen here.APSRTC runs a package tour to Sriailam and Nagarjuna sagar on week ends in the season.
Nearest places: The famous Srisailam dam which is 512M length and 270M height and it is a major hydro power station of Andhra Pradesh. Alampur Jogulamba temple is 24 Km from Kurnool. It is one of the 18 shaktipeethas.
Airport : Hyderabad
Stay: Accommodation is available easily like Hotels /dharma salas (chowltries)/srisailam trust guest house.
Ujjain is place of historical importance and there are many places of tourist interests like Ghat Kalika(Kalidas aradhana devi ) temple,Char Dham mandir, bethala pipale tree, temple built by king Vikramaditya and Kala Bhirava temple where liquor is offered as prasada, Bada Ganapathi mandir ,Mangalanath Temple, Gopal mandir,Iskon mandir,Sandeepani Ashram and Bhookhi mata temple. You can see the rare potriat of King Vikramadithya in the court hall near Hara Sidhi mata temple.
Omkarewara Temple
Vaidyanath Temple (Deogarh)
5a)Vaidyanath,Deogarh(Jharkhand): Nearest rail way station is Jasidih junction which is 7Km from Vaidyanath temple.Jasidh is 311 Km from Howrah/Sealdah in Patna route. As per Siva puranam Vaidyanath is in Chithabhoomi which is the ancient name for Deogarh.It is well connected by road /bus from Ranchi,Gaya,Bhagalpur and Hazaribagh. You can perform abhisheka your self.
Parli vaijnath Temple
Bhima shankaram temple
6) Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga :It is one of the jyotirlingas which is not connected by train. you can reach it by road from pune or Shirdi or Mumbai . It is 120 Km from Pune and 170 Km from Shirdi. There is no proper accommodation for stay at Bhimashankar and one has to stay at Manchar which is 35Km from Bhimashankar on the way to Pune. Buses are available from Pune,Shivaji nagar bus stand(5Km from rly station) to Bhimashankar directly. First bus (Rs82) starts at 5.15AM.It is ghat road and journey is very enjoyable.
Rameswaram Temple
Dwarakadish Temple
Aunda(aundha) Naganath Temple
8b) Aunda Naganath jyotirlinga: It is 120Km from Parli in Maharashtra. This is very old temple built by Rani Ahilya Bai. The place where the temple is there is called Darukavanam. The above shloka says 'Nagesam Darukavane' as such it is believed that this is the actual jyothirlinga.It is 51Km from Parbhani rail way station. Nandigram express( train No1401) which goes from Nagpur to Mumbai stops here.The main deity at aundha is in under ground. One can perform abhisheka by purchasing the ticket. The men need not remove their shirts while performing the abhisheka. After the abhisheka the silver cover on the linga is removed and one can have the darshan of the main deity. While coming out from the inner temple one has to climb a 3 feet step which is difficult for ladies and old people.
Food : one can have good food at National dhabha which 2Km from the temple.
Stay : Parbhani where reasonable lodges at Rs 200 to 300 are available.
Places of interest : Jintur is 40 Km from Aunda where Digambar Jain temple is there. The statue of Mahaaveerji here is in almost floating state and just one inch above from the ground and resting on tip of a stone. This can be compared with the mysterious place in US near Sanfransisco. It is said that 500 years back this statue was floating six inches above the ground and when Moghals raided this area it was covered with earth and later the equilibrium was lost.
Nanded which is 64 Km from aundha is another place of interest where we will find famous Gurudwara and Guru Govindji ka samadhi.
In my opinion Aunda naganath seems to be the actual jyotirlinga because this temple only renovated by Rani Ahilya Bai and not the temple at Dwaraka even when she got constructed the temple at Somanath which is also in Gujarat. The temple at Dwaraka seems to be constructed recently. At both these temples(Nageswar Dwaraka /Aunda naganath) we find the plaques/boards made by the respective authorities saying that it is one of the 12 jyotirlingas. As such it is better to visit both these temples.
If you visit both these temples your count goes to 14.
Stay: Many dharmasalas and hotels are available
Places of interest: The new Viswanath temple in the university complex and Saranath which is 11km from here. Harichandra ghat where the fire is continuing from the days of Raja Hari chandra.
Trayambakeswar Temple
10) Trayambakeswar Jyotirlinga : It is in Maharashtra and it is 27 km from Nasik. Nasik road railway station is 188 km from Mumbai central . Trayambakeswar is 6 hours by road (bus Rs121) from Manchar which is near Bhimashankar. It is one of the Jyotirlingas where you are not allowed in the inner temple and you can not do abhisheka your self.The decoration of the deityis different in the morning and evening.
Stay:Gajanana Samsthan very clean and reasonable rates( Rs 150 for double room)
Near by places of interest : Panchavati, Muktidham and birth place of River Godavari. It is 2hours hilly route to the birth place of Godavari. Unless you have lot of stamina, do not attempt to visit this place.
Kedarnath Temple
11) Kedarnath Jyotirlinga: It is in Uttaranchal. This is the only jyotirlinga which is not opened through out the year. The temple is opened from May to October every year and you have to go by road only.It is 230Km from Rishikesh and 250Km from Dehradun by road and is at an altitude of 3584M. The temple is built by Adi Shankaracharya in 8th century AD. Original temple said to be built by Pandavas. Behind the temple there is samadhi of Adi Shankaracharya. The route to Kedar from Rishikesh is via Devprayag, Srinagar,Rudraprayaga, Ukhimath and Gowrikhund.There is another route via Utter Kasi and gangotri.
Ukhimath is the place where priests offer prayers for six months when the temple is closed during the winter season.
Nearest railway station : Rishikesh
One can go upto Gowri(Gauri) kund by road and from there you can go to the temple by foot or by horse back or by doli . Lot of stamina is required to go by walk. Doli is safer and convenient than horse back. Doli charges Rs2400 for round trip in season and in non season even less than 1000.Before start one can have bath in Gowri kund(hot water spring). It will be very cold in the month of May also in Kedar and one should have proper winter clothing. On the hill oxygen content will be less and one should take necessary steps when you are planning to go by walk. Now a days helicopter service is also available.
Helecopter services : Helipad is at Agastymuni which is 17 Km from Rudraprayag. Rudraprayag is 140 Km from Rishikesh. Pawan Hans is operationg helecopter services (Five seater) from 6.30 AM to 11.10 AM. Daily 4 trips. Flying time is 45 min. 1hr and 30 min are given for Darshan and you should come back in the next trip. you can opt for next day trip too. Fare is Rs 8000 plus 501 for special darshan. One way ticket is Rs 5000.
Here also you can do abhisheka your self. Abhisheka tickets are available at Rs 2001 and 5 people are allowed for 15 minutes in the inner temple after 00.00 hrs in the night for doing abhisheka.
Grishneswar Temple
12) Grishneswar Jyotirlinga : It is in Maharashtra and near by rail way station is Daulatabad which is 12Km from the temple. It is also well connected by road from Aurangabad. The temple is rebuilt by Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore around 1768. It is the only jyotirlinga where the deity faces east. Many people are not aware of this temple and people who are visiting shirdi can plan a trip to this temple easily.The deity is called Ghrushmeshwar.The goddess is Grishneshwari. The temple is at Ilapur and the village is called Verul.
Stay : At Verul no proper lodges are there and one has to stay at Daulatabad/Aurangabad.
Near by places of interest: Ellora caves, Shiridi Sai baba temple , Daulatabad Fort, Aurangzeb Tomb, Bibika Makbara(mini tajmahal). Ajantha caves are 110 Km from the temple. Ellora is only 2Km from the temple. 34 caves are there at Ellora.
Maha Rani Ahilya Bai
(Renovated Somanath,Parli, Aunda nagnath ,Varanasi & Grishneswar Jyotirlingas)
Rajmata Ahilya Bai Holkar (1725 - 1795) has ruled the Malwa kingdom, India from 1767-1795. She was born in the village Chaundi in Maharashtra. She has moved the capital to Maheshwar south of Indore on the Narmada River. Ahilyabai’s husband was killed in battle in 1754. Twelve years later, her father-in-law, Malhar Rao Holkar has died and she has taken charge of the Malwa kingdom. Rani Ahilya Bai was a great builder and patron of many Hindu temples which embellished Maheshwar and Indore. She has also built temples at sacred sites outside her kingdom, from Somanath in Gujarat to the Kashi Vishweswar temple at Varanasi. Some of these details are given in above blog.
