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

sins of devotees who see Him).

Sahyadri sheershe vimle vasantam,Godavari teera pavitra deshe,

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,

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���������

����������������������������”

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.

Jageshwar temple near Almora in Uttarakhand state