India GOThe 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva: where they are and how to plan the pilgrimage
The twelve Jyotirlingas are the Shiva shrines where, by the Shiva Purana, Shiva appeared as an endless pillar of light. They are spread across eight states, from Kedarnath in the Himalaya to Rameshwaram at the southern tip, with three in Maharashtra, two each in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The 12 divine abodes of Shiva where He manifests as a column of light (Jyoti). A pilgrimage to all 12 is considered among the most sacred acts in Hinduism.
Every place in the collection on the India GO map.
Open in India GOWhat a Jyotirlinga is
Jyotirlinga joins two Sanskrit words: jyotis, radiance, and linga, the sign or emblem of Shiva. The Shiva Purana tells how Brahma and Vishnu argued over which of them was supreme, and Shiva pierced the three worlds as a pillar of light with no visible end. Vishnu, as the boar Varaha, dug down to find its base; Brahma flew up on his swan to find its top. Vishnu admitted he had failed. Brahma claimed success and offered a ketaki flower as false proof, and for that lie, the story goes, he lost his place in worship.
The shrines are held to be the places where Shiva appeared as that column of light. The Shiva Purana speaks of sixty-four in all; twelve are counted as the holiest, listed in a short hymn, the Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram. In each the main image is a linga, standing for the pillar without beginning or end.
The twelve, with town and state
In the order of the hymn; for two of them rival claimants are noted.
| Somnath | Veraval (Prabhas Patan), Gujarat |
| Mallikarjuna | Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh |
| Mahakaleshwar | Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh |
| Omkareshwar | Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh |
| Kedarnath | Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand |
| Bhimashankar | Pune district, Maharashtra |
| Kashi Vishwanath | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh |
| Trimbakeshwar | near Nashik, Maharashtra |
| Vaidyanath (Baidyanath) | Deoghar, Jharkhand; also claimed by Parli Vaijnath, Maharashtra |
| Nageshwar | near Dwarka, Gujarat; also claimed by Aundha Nagnath (Maharashtra) and Jageshwar (Uttarakhand) |
| Rameshwaram (Ramanathaswamy) | Rameswaram island, Tamil Nadu |
| Grishneshwar | near Ellora, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad), Maharashtra |
Is there an order, and how to group them
On a map the twelve fall into clusters:
- Gujarat: Somnath and Nageshwar, both on the Saurashtra coast.
- Madhya Pradesh: Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain and Omkareshwar on the Narmada.
- Maharashtra: Trimbakeshwar near Nashik, Grishneshwar by the Ellora caves and Bhimashankar in the hills of Pune district.
- Standing alone: Kashi Vishwanath, Vaidyanath at Deoghar, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam, Rameshwaram and Kedarnath.
Kedarnath sets the calendar for anyone attempting all twelve. The temple stands at about 3,583 m, is reached by a 17 km uphill trek from Gaurikund, and opens only from Akshaya Tritiya in April or May to Kartika Purnima in November; in winter the deity is carried down to Ukhimath.
The two covered in India GO
Mahakaleshwar, Ujjain
Here Shiva is worshipped as Mahakala, the lord of time, and the linga is held to be swayambhu, self-manifested. By legend he rose from the earth to destroy the demon Dushana and stayed to protect the city. There are two queues: the free general line, which can take hours, and a paid faster line. The Harsiddhi temple nearby is counted among the Shakti Pithas. The night Malwa Express from Delhi takes about 15 hours and arrives two kilometres from the temple (as checked on 5 August 2026). Best season October–March; April to September are best avoided, and in the monsoon the Shipra floods the ghats.
Kashi Vishwanath, Varanasi
The main shrine of Varanasi. Expect queues of one to two hours, security gates and metal detectors. Phones, cameras and all electronics are forbidden inside and go into a separate locker. Priests may ask for donations, and you are not obliged to give. Come before 7:00 or late in the evening, when it is quieter and cooler. Tradition in Kashi asks pilgrims to take leave first at the Kaal Bhairav temple, the shrine of the city's divine guardian. October–March is the season; April–September brings heat and then floods on the ghats.
Festivals that bring the crowds
Maha Shivaratri, the great night of Shiva, falls on 6 March 2027 and draws large crowds to the Jyotirlingas. Two of the shrines also sit in Kumbh cities: the main bathing period of the Nashik Simhastha, held in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar, runs from 2 August to 12 September 2027, and the Ujjain Simhastha is expected from 27 March to 27 May 2028 (dates still provisional). Come on those dates for the festival itself; for a calm darshan, avoid them.
❓ FAQ
Which is the twelfth Jyotirlinga?
In the order of the Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram the twelfth is Grishneshwar, near the Ellora caves in Maharashtra. The order is not a ranking.
What is the order of visiting the 12 Jyotirlingas?
There is no binding order. Many follow the hymn from Somnath; most plan by region and fit Kedarnath into its April–November season.
What are the 5 main Jyotirlingas?
There is no standard list of five. The classic list is twelve, recited together in the Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram, and the hymn does not rank them.
What is the significance of visiting a Jyotirlinga?
Each is held to be a place where Shiva revealed himself as infinite light, so darshan there is considered especially meritorious, and a pilgrimage to all twelve among the most sacred in Hinduism.