continued on page 13 ageshvara Jyotirlinga is one of the N 12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned in the Shiva Purana (Śatarudra Sa hitā, Ch. 42/2-4, referred as "nageshamdarukavane"). Nageshvara is believed as the first Jyotirlinga on the earth. There are three major shrines in India which are believed as identical to this Jyotirlinga. They are the Jageshwar temple near Almora in Uttarakhand state, the Nageshwara temple near Dwaraka in Gujarat state and the Nagnath temple in Aundha in Maharashtra state. Nageshwar Temple in Dwarka Nageshwar Temple or Nagnath Temple in Dwarka is located on the route between Gomati Dwarka and the Bait Dwarka Island on the coast of Saurashtra in Gujarat. The Jyotirlinga enshrined in the Temple of Nagnath is known as Nageshwar Mahadev and attracts thousands of pilgrims all-round the year. This powerful Jyotirlinga symbolizes protection from all poisons. It is said that those who pray to the Nageshwar Linga become free of poison. The Sapta-puris Dwarka is one of the Sapta-puris or seven holy towns - Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Kasi, Ujjain, Kancipuram and Dwarka. The seven religious cities are within India's territorial ambit and pilgrimage to these places greatly enhances the unity of the nation, in spite of its linguistic and cultural diversity. The Sapta-puris are places of birth of religious and spiritual masters, places where Gods have descended as Avatars (incarnations) such as where god Ayodhya Rama was born, and places considered as Nityatirthas, naturally endowed, with spiritual powers since ages such as Varanasi Haridwar Kanchipuram and . is known for its Kamakshi Amman Temple dedicated to the Mother goddess. Dwarka represents the place where god Krishna, after leaving Mathura spent 100 years before he left for heaven from here, according to the epic Mahabharata. Mathura is the embodiment of events in the life of Krishna during his childhood and young days. Haridwar with shrines of both Shiva and Vishnu, represents the gateway to Uttarakhand, as the sacred river Ganges emerges from the hills into the plains at this place. Varanasi is the place of salvation as it is strongly believed that death at this place will bring salvation. Varanasi is the holiest of The twelve jyotirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath at Deogarh in Jharkand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Nageshvara Jyotirlinga Temple, Gujarat. This article is a researched article and borrows heavily from printed and electronic encyclopedias as well as material provided by our panel of research scholars, astrologers, academics and pundits Introduction 12 u November 2013
4
Embed
November 2013 - Vaastuyogam at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, ... Mahakaleshwar Temple. Each of these ... u November 2013 13
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
continued on page 13
ageshvara Jyotirlinga is one of the
N12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned in
the Shiva Purana (Śatarudra
Sa �hi tā , Ch. 42/2-4, re fer red as
"nageshamdarukavane"). Nageshvara is
believed as the first Jyotirlinga on the earth.
There are three major shrines in India which
are believed as identical to this Jyotirlinga.
They are the Jageshwar temple near Almora
in Uttarakhand state, the Nageshwara
temple near Dwaraka in Gujarat state and
the Nagnath temple in Aundha in
Maharashtra state.
Nageshwar Temple in Dwarka
Nageshwar Temple or Nagnath Temple in
Dwarka is located on the route between
Gomati Dwarka and the Bait Dwarka Island
on the coast of Saurashtra in Gujarat. The
Jyotirlinga enshrined in the Temple of
Nagnath is known as Nageshwar Mahadev
and attracts thousands of pilgrims all-round
the year. This powerful Jyotirlinga
symbolizes protection from all poisons. It is
said that those who pray to the Nageshwar
Linga become free of poison.
The Sapta-puris
Dwarka is one of the Sapta-puris or seven
holy towns - Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar,
Kasi, Ujjain, Kancipuram and Dwarka. The
seven religious cities are within India's
territorial ambit and pilgrimage to these
places greatly enhances the unity of the
nation, in spite of its linguistic and cultural
diversity. The Sapta-puris are places of birth
of religious and spiritual masters, places
where Gods have descended as Avatars
(incarnations) such as where god Ayodhya
Rama was born, and places considered as
Nityatirthas, naturally endowed, with
spiritual powers since ages such as
Varanasi Haridwar Kanchipuramand . is
known for its Kamakshi Amman Temple
dedicated to the Mother goddess. Dwarka
represents the place where god Krishna,
after leaving Mathura spent 100 years
before he left for heaven from here,
according to the epic Mahabharata.
Mathura is the embodiment of events in the
life of Krishna during his childhood and
young days. Haridwar with shrines of both
Shiva and Vishnu, represents the gateway
to Uttarakhand, as the sacred river Ganges
emerges from the hills into the plains at this
place. Varanasi is the place of salvation as it
is strongly believed that death at this place
will bring salvation. Varanasi is the holiest of
The twelve jyotirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath at Deogarh in Jharkand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
Nageshvara Jyotirlinga Temple, Gujarat.
This article is a researched article and
borrows heavily from printed and
electronic encyclopedias as well as
material provided by our panel of
research scholars, astrologers,
academics and pundits
Introduction
(I meditate upon Lord Trayambaka,who resides on the peak of the
Western Ghats, on the holy shore ofriver Godavari and who destroys all
Yad darshanat Patakamashu Nasham,Prayati tam Trayambaka meesha meede.
12 u November 2013
continued on page 14
all and it is favorite to Lord Shiva, thus it is
often referred as City of Lord Shiva. In
Hinduism, one should visit the major
temples in Varanasi in his/her life. , Ujjain
also known by the ancient name Avanti, has
one of the 12 Jyotirlingas installed in the
Mahakaleshwar Temple. Each of these
cities is also famous for the spectacular
melas or fairs held. Haridwar and Ujjain are
famous for the Kumbh Mela held once every
12 years. Marriage festival of Kamakshi at
Kanchipuram is a special occasion. Krishna
Janmashtami (birth day of Krishna -
generally held in August as per Hindu
calendar) is a special occasion in Dwarka
and Mathura
continued from page 12
In more recent times,
the T-Series Music
Company owner Late
Gulshan Kumar
began the renovation
of this temple but the
renovation was
completed by his
family after his
murder. Gulshan
Kumar Charitable
Trust bore the entire
expense renovation.
u November 2013 13
Lord Shiva in "Pranayam" position at the Nageshwar Temple site
Location map of Nageshwar Temple near Dwarka, Gujarat.
A huge yet very attractive statue of Lord Shiva in "Pranayam" position is visible from3 KM distance from the Nageshwar Temple. The statue is 125 feet tall and 25 feet broad.
Nageshwar Temple or Nagnath Temple in Dwarka is located on the route betweenGomati Dwarka and the Bait Dwarka Island on the coast of Saurashtra in Gujarat.
continued from page 13 Dharmaraja said, “Surely, some great God
must be living in this river”. Then the
Pandavas started removing the water from
the river. The middle part of the river was so
hot that the water there was boiling. Bheema
lifted his mace and attacked the river thrice.
The water gave way instantly. Lord
Shankara’s Linga could be seen as the
Jyotirlinga.
The Temple
The Sivalinga is facing South, with the
Gomukham facing East. There is a story for
this position. A devotee by name Naamdev
was singing bhajans in front of the Lord.
Other devotees asked him to stand aside
and not hide the Lord. To this Naamdev
asked them to suggest one direction in
which the Lord does not exist, so that he can
stand there. The enraged devotees carried
him and left him on the south side. To their
astonishment, they found that the Linga was
now facing South with the Gomukham
facing East.
Legend Behind Nageshwar Temple
According to Shiv Purana, a Shiva devotee
by name Supriya was attacked by a demon
Daaruka while in a boat. The demon
imprisoned him along with several others at
his capital Daarukaavana where he resided
with his wife Daaruki. Supriya advised all
prisoners to recite the mantra ‘Aum Namaha
Shivaya’. When Daruk came to know about
this he ran to kill Supriya. Instantly Lord
Shiva appeared in the form of a Jyotirlingam
and vanquished the demon with the
Paasupata Astram.
According to another legend, the Pandavas
came here during their Vanavas to build a
hermitage for themselves. Their cows used
to go to the same river bank to drink water.
After drinking water, milk used to flow
automatically into the river as if the cows
were offering to the river. One day Bhima
saw this miraculous event and told
Dharmaraja about the same. Then
The Nageshwar Lingam, Gujarat
Aurangazeb, the
notorious Mughal
emperor, wanted to
destroy this Hindu
temple. When he
tried, thousands of
bees came out of
the temple and
attacked
Aurangazeb and
his army. He left
the demolition
work midway and
went away. The
devotees then
rebuilt the broken
temple.continued on page 15
u November 201314
A specialty of the Nageshwar Shivalinga is that unlike the other Shivalingas,
which are made of black stone and look like a neat pillar rounded off at the top, this one
is made of a stone known popularly as Dwaraka Shila, which has small chakras on it.
The shape of the linga is more or less like an oval three Mukhi Rudraksha.
is taken by many to exist in Almora. Deodar
(daruvriksha) is found only in western
Himalayas in abundance and is not found in
peninsular India.
There has been a continuous association of
deodar trees with Lord Shiva in ancient
Hindu texts. Hindu sages used to reside and
perform meditation in deodar forests to
please Lord Shiva. Also, according to the
ancient treatise Prasadmandanam,
"������������������������������������
���������
����������������������������”
Thus most identify the 'Jageswara' temple in
Almora, Uttarkhand as Nageshvara
Jyotirlinga. The very name of Darukavana in
text could be misread as 'Dwarakavana' to
locate Jyotirlinga at Nageswara temple at
Dwaraka.
In fact there is no legendary forest at this
part of Dwaraka that finds mention in any of
the Indian epics. In the narratives of Shri
Krishna, we find mention of Somanatha and
adjoining Prabhasatirtha, but never there is
any mention of 'Nageswara or Darukavana'
in Dwaraka and Its outskirts.
'Darukavana' can also be taken to exist
adjacent to Vindhya Mountains. It is south-
southwest of the Vindhyas extending to sea
in west. In the Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotra
Shankaracharya praised this Jyotirlinga as
Naganath:
"Yamye sadange nagaretiramye
vibhushitangam vividhaishcha bhogai
Sadbhaktimuktipradami shamekam
shrinaganatham sharanam prapadye”
This could be taken to provide evidence that
it is located in the south ['yamye'] at the town
of Sadanga, the ancient name of Aundh in
Maharashtra located 'south' compared to
Jageswara shrine in Uttarkhand and
Dwaraka Nageshvara at West end.
A specialty of this Shivalinga is that unlike
the other Shivalingas, which are made of
black stone and look like a neat pillar
rounded off at the top, this one is made of a
stone known popularly as Dwaraka Shila,
which has small chakras on it. The shape of
the linga is more or less like an oval three
Mukhi Rudraksha.
Nageshwar temple has simple main
entrance and has typical huge sabha
mandap. This Jyotirlinga has South Indian
style architecture and the Jyotirlinga is in a
basement.
This is perhaps the only Jyotirlinga where
Goddess Parvati is also with Shivalinga.
Like all Jyotirlinga, only male devotees can
enter in Garbhagriha, and it is must to wear a
dhoti.
Aurangazeb, the notorious Mughal
emperor, wanted to destroy this Hindu
temple. When he tried, thousands of bees
came out of the temple and attacked
Aurangazeb and his army. He left the
demolition work midway and went away.
The devotees then rebuilt the broken
temple.
In more recent times, the T-Series Music
Company owner Late Gulshan Kumar
began the renovation of this temple but the
renovation was completed by his family after
his murder. Gulshan Kumar Charitable Trust
bore the entire expense renovation. A huge
yet very attractive statue of Lord Shiva in
"Pranayam" position is visible from 3 KM
distance. The statue is 125 feet tall and 25
feet broad.
Other sites
Two other sites in India, one near Audhgram
near Purna in Andhra Pradesh and another
near Almora in Uttar Pradesh also enshrine
temples to Nageswara Jyotirlingam.
At present, there is a debate on location of
epic forest Darukavanaso as to identify the
jyotirlinga of Nageswaram. Since no other
important clues are left in the text which help
in locating the place, 'Darukavana' remains
as the vital clue.
Darukavana, the name being derived from
'daruvana' [meaning forest of deodar trees],
continued from page 14
u November 2013 15
Nageshvara Jyotirlinga is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned in the
Shiva Purana (Śatarudra Samhitā,Ch.42/2-4, referred as "nageshamdarukavane").
Nageshvarais believed as the first Jyotirlinga on the earth. There are three major
shrines in India which are believed as identical to this Jyotirlinga. Those are the
Jageshwar temple near Almora in Uttarakhand state, the Nageshwara temple
nr. Dwaraka in Gujarat state and the Nagnath temple in Aundha in Maharashtra state.