List of Shiva temples in India

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	Prabhas Patan, Veraval, Gujarat
2	Mallikarjuna Swamy	Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
3	Mahakaleshwar	Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
4	Omkareshwar	near Indore, Madhya Pradesh
5	Kedarnath	Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
6	Bhimashankar	Pune, Maharashtra
7	Kashi Vishwanath	Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
8	Trimbakeshwar	Trimbak, near Nashik, Maharashtra
9	Baidyanath	Deoghar, Jharkhand
10	Nageshwar	Dwarka, Gujarat
11	Ramanathaswamy	Rameswaram ,Tamil Nadu
12	Grishneshwar	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
Jambukeswarar	Water	Thiruvanaikaval, Tamil Nadu
Arunachaleswarar	Fire	Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Kalahastheeswarar	Air	Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh
Ekambareswarar	Earth	Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu
Natarajar	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,

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

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

Somnath temple, Veraval

Jammu and Kashmir

Amarnath

Karnataka

Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra

Shiv Mandir, Ambarnath

Odisha

Punjab

Mukteshwar Mahadev Temple, Pathankot

Rajasthan

Sikkim

Kirateshwar Mahadev Temple, Legship

Tamil Nadu

Telangana

Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh

Ghuisarnath Temple, Pratapgarh
Hajari Mahadev Temple, Etawah
Lodheshwar Mahadev Mandir, Barabanki
Shivdwar Uma Maheshwar Temple, Sonbhadra
Waneshwar Mahadev Temple, Kanpur
Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

References

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

External links

List of Shiva temples in India at The Divine India

[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.

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