List of Shiva temples in India

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Shiva is a Hindu deity. As one of the Trimurti (supreme trinity) in the Hindu pantheon among Brahma and Vishnu, there are a number of temples dedicated to his worship in India and abroad. In Hinduism, Shiva is the supreme being regarded to perform the functions of creation, preservation, as well as the destruction of the universe.[1] Hindu texts describe the worship of Shiva and the establishment of temples and shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, commonly in the aniconic form of a lingam. The most prominent of these are the Jyotirlinga temples.[2]

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples as mentioned in the Shiva Purana are :-[3]

# Jyotirlinga Location
1 Somnath File:Somanatha view-II.JPG Prabhas Patan, Veraval, Gujarat
2 Mallikarjuna Swamy File:Srisailam-temple-entrance.jpg Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
3 Mahakaleshwar File:Mahakal Temple Ujjain.JPG Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
4 Omkareshwar File:Omkareshwar Temple 01.jpg near Indore, Madhya Pradesh
5 Kedarnath File:Kedarnath Temple.jpg Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
6 Bhimashankar File:Bhimashankar.jpg Pune, Maharashtra
7 Kashi Vishwanath Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
8 Trimbakeshwar File:Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple, Trimbak, Nashik district.jpg Trimbak, near Nashik, Maharashtra
9 Baidyanath Baidyanath Dham Deoghar, Jharkhand
10 Nageshwar File:Jageshwar main.JPG Dwarka, Gujarat
11 Ramanathaswamy File:Ramanathaswamy temple7.JPG Rameswaram ,Tamil Nadu
12 Grishneshwar File:Grishneshwar Temple.jpg Ellora, Maharashtra

Pancha Bhuta Sthalams (Five Elemental Manifestations)

In South India, five temples of Shiva are held to be particularly important, as being manifestations of him in the five elemental substances.

Deity Manifestation Location
Jambukeswarar File:Tvkoil.JPG Water Thiruvanaikaval, Tamil Nadu
Arunachaleswarar File:Thiruvannamalai, Arunachalesvara Temple, Annamalaiyar Temple, Panoramic view, India.jpg Fire Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Kalahastheeswarar Air Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh
Ekambareswarar File:Kanchi ekambaranathar temple1.jpg Earth Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu
Natarajar File:Natraja Temple.jpg Sky Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu

Pancharama temples

The Pancharama Kshetras (or the Pancharamas) are five ancient Hindu temples of Shiva situated in Andhra Pradesh. The lingams at these temples are made from a single lingam. As per the legend, this lingam was owned by the demon king Tarakasura. No one could win over him due to the power of this lingam. Finally, Kartikeya, the son of Shiva broke the lingam into five pieces and killed Tarakasura. The five pieces of lingam fell at five different places on earth namely,

File:Draksharama temple - Main entrance.jpg
Bhimesvara Swamy Temple in Draksharama, one of the Pancharama Kshetras
Arama Name Shiva's Name Consort Name Location
Amararama Amaralingeswara Swamy Bala Chamundika Ammavaru Amaravathi village, Andhra Pradesh
Draksharama Bhimesvara Swamy Manikyamba Ammavaru Draksharama, Andhra Pradesh
Somarama Someswara Swamy Sri Rajarajeswari Ammavaru Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh
Ksheerarama Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy Parvati Ammavaru Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh
Bhimarama Kumara Bhimeswara Swamy Bala Tripurasundari Ammavaru Samalkota, Andhra Pradesh

Pancha Sabhai

The five temples located in Tamil Nadu where Shiva is believed to perform the tandava dance are:

Sabha Temple Location
Pon (Gold) Sabha Natarajar Temple Chidambaram
Velli (Silver) Sabha Meenakshi Temple Madurai
Thamira (Copper) Sabha Nellaiappar Temple Tirunelveli
Rathna (Gem) Sabha Sri Vadaranyeswarar Temple Thiruvalangadu
Chitira (Picture) Sabha Kutraleeswar Temple Kutralam

Ashta Veeratta Temples

Temple Deity Commemorates Location
Veerateeswarar Temple, Thirukovilur Veerateeswarar Shiva slaying Andhakasura in the form of Andhakasuramurti Tirukoilur
Veerateeswarar Temple, Thiruvathigai Veerateeswarar Shiva killing Tripurasura and destroying the three cities in the form of Tripurantaka Panruti
Veerateeswarar Temple, Korukkai Veerateeswarar Shiva burning Kamadeva with his third eye in the form of Kamari Mayiladuthurai
Kandeeswarar Temple, Kandiyur Brahmasirakandeeswarar Shiva decapitating the fifth head of Brahma in the form of Bhairava Thanjavur
Amritaghateswarar-Abirami Temple, Thirukkadaiyur Amritaghateswarar Shiva defeating Yama and blessing Markandeya to remain a youth of 16 in the form of Kalantaka Thirukkadaiyur
Veerateeswarar Temple, Thirupariyalur Veerateeswarar Shiva beheading Daksha and destroyed Daksha Yajna in the form of Virabhadra Mayiladuthurai
Veerateeswarar Temple, Vazhuvur Veerateeswarar Shiva killing Gajasura in the form of Gajasurasamhara Mayiladuthurai
Veerateeswarar Temple, Thiruvirkudi Veerateeswarar Shiva killing Jalandhara in the form of Jalandharari Mayiladuthurai

Shani Parihara Temples

Sabha Temple Location
Sani Parihara Sthalam Tirunallar Saniswaran Temple Thirunallaru, Puducherry
Sani Parihara Sthalam Sri Darbarneeswarar Temple Devasthanam
Shani Parihara Chenchadainathar Shiva Temple Sayalkudi, Tamil Nadu
Shani Parihara Sri Mandeswara Swamy Vari Devasthanam East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh|-

Kashiswar Jiu temple

File:Kashiswar Bhairava, Andul.jpg
The deity Kashiswar Jiu with the gauripatta in the temple.

Kashiswar Jiu temple is in Andul of Howrah district near the Saraswati river, West Bengal in India. The presiding deity is a Banlinga which was recovered from the river in mid 17th century by Kashiswar Datta Chowdhury, a local zamindar. In 18th century a stone made yoni-like structure (Gauripatta) that symbolizes goddess Shakti has been attached with the lingam after Bargi attacked in 1741 AD. The deity is considered to be one of the oldest in the district.

Other deities with Kashiswar Jiu
Deities Year
Biseshwara 1785 AD
Nakuleshwara 19th century circa
Saurendra Mohaneshwara 18th century circa

The temples are presently run by SrisriKashiswar Debottur Trust.

Notable temples

Andhra Pradesh

Assam

Bihar

Chhattisgarh

Goa

Gujarat

Jammu and Kashmir

Karnataka

Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra

Shiv Mandir, Ambarnath

Odisha

Punjab

Rajasthan

Sikkim

Tamil Nadu

Telangana

Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

References

  1. Dalal, Roshen (2014-04-18). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin UK. p. 1119. ISBN 978-81-8475-277-9.
  2. Butler, Richard; Suntikul, Wantanee (2018-01-30). Tourism and Religion: Issues and Implications. Channel View Publications. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-84541-647-8.
  3. B. K. Chaturvedi (2004). Shiv Purana. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. pp. 58–72. ISBN 8171827217. Retrieved 5 August 2014.

External links