Everyone and everything
Trimurti cave, Mahabalipuram
Mamallapuram Trimurti cave temple
A Pallava rock-cut group of three shrines on one platform, dated by its 'Malla' inscription to Narasimhavarman I…
Amarnath cave
The cave where an ice linga forms each summer, believed to wax and wane with the moon, held to be the place where Shiva…
Brahma Temple, Bindusagar
A fifteenth-century Gajapati-period temple in late Kalingan style beside the Bindusagar tank, housing a four-armed…
Kailasa temple, Ellora (Cave 16)
Kailash temple · Ellora Cave 16
The rock-cut Shiva temple begun under the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I (757–772). Its galleries carry the genuine…
Kashi (Varanasi)
Varanasi · Benares · Avimukta
Shiva's city on the Ganga, where Vishwanath is held to be king over every other deity and where death is believed to…
Madurai
The Pandya capital of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar, whose temple was sacked by Malik Kafur in 1311, reopened under…
Tiruvannamalai (Arunachala)
Arunachala · Annamalai
The hill that the Tamil tradition identifies with Shiva's pillar of fire, the fire element among the five element…
Bhimashankar
Jyotirlinga in the Sahyadri forest at the source of the Bhima river, built up by Nana Phadnavis; both its legend and…
Brahmapureeswarar Temple, Tirupattur
A Shiva temple with a self-manifest linga, a Brahma shrine in meditative lotus pose, twelve lingas installed by Brahma…
Chidambaram
Tillai · Thillai
The temple of Nataraja in the old Tillai forest, the ether shrine among the five element temples and one of the five…
Deoghar (Baidyanath)
Baba Baidyanath Dham · Baiju-nath
The Vaidyanath jyotirlinga of Jharkhand, which also claims Ravana's atmalinga set down by Vishnu as the shepherd Baiju…
Elephanta Caves
Gharapuri
Fifth- to sixth-century rock-cut Shiva temple, probably Kalachuri, whose Cave 1 carries the great three-faced Sadashiva…
Gokarna
The Mahabaleshwar temple on the Karnataka coast that holds Ravana's atmalinga; the name (cow's ear) comes from the…
Grishneshwar
Jyotirlinga near the Ellora caves, rooted in the story of the devotee Ghushma; rebuilt by Maloji Bhosale and by Gautama…
Kapalamochana tirtha
Kapala-mochana · Kapalmochan
The bathing place in Kashi where Brahma's skull finally dropped from Bhairava's hand and the sin of killing a brahmin…
Kedarnath
The northernmost jyotirlinga, a three-sided rock worshipped as the hump of the bull-Shiva that the Pandavas chased; the…
Kudalasangama
Kappadisangama
The meeting place of the Krishna and Malaprabha rivers where Basavanna grew up and whose Shiva, 'lord of the meeting…
Lingaraj Temple
Ekamra Kshetra
Bhubaneswar's 55 m Somavamsi temple, whose deity was first under a mango tree (hence Ekamra) and whose underground…
Manikarnika Ghat
The cremation ghat and well at Kashi where, per the Kashi Khanda, Vishnu dug with his discus and filled the pit with…
Neelkanth Mahadev
The temple at the meeting of the Pankaja and Madhumati streams, 32 km from Rishikesh, that claims the spot where Shiva…
Pashupatinath
Nepal's great Shiva temple on the Bagmati, with a four-faced mukhalinga that only its four Bhatta priests may touch…
Rameswaram
The southernmost jyotirlinga and a Char Dham site, where Rama is said to have worshipped Shiva before or after the war…
Sankarankovil
Sankaran Koil · Sankarankoil
Tenth-century Pandya temple of Sankaralinga, Gomathi Amman and Sankaranarayana. Its sthala puranam tells of Gomathi's…
Sivadol, Sivasagar
The 1734 Ahom temple of queen Ambika on the Borpukhuri tank, 104 ft high and said to be India's tallest Shiva temple…
Somnath
Prabhas Patan
Traditionally the first jyotirlinga, built by the moon-god after Shiva eased Daksha's curse; tradition says the temple…
Srikalahasti
The air-element linga, named for a spider, a serpent and an elephant that each worshipped it and won release; the site…
Tarakeswar (Taraknath)
Bengal's Shiva shrine founded around 1634 after a cow poured milk on a stone; pilgrims come on Mondays, at Shivaratri…
Thirukkadaiyur
Temple of Amritaghateswarar and Abirami where Shiva is worshipped as the conqueror of death for Markandeya. Stub entity.
Trimbakeshwar
The jyotirlinga at the source of the Godavari on Brahmagiri, with a three-faced linga read as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva…
Ujjain (Mahakaleshwar)
Seat of the Mahakaleshwar jyotirlinga, named by Kalidasa, where the dawn bhasma aarti uses cremation ash; the legend of…
Vadakkunnathan Temple
Kerala's Shiva temple where a sixteen-foot linga stands under a mound of ghee said never to melt; its legend has Shiva…
Elephanta Caves
Gharapuri
Rock-cut Shaiva caves whose Cave 1 holds the seven-metre three-faced bust popularly called Trimurti and read by most…
Panch Kedar
The five Garhwal shrines where the bull-Shiva's body re-emerged: hump at Kedarnath, arms at Tungnath, face at…
Srisailam
Mallikarjuna
Hill shrine of Mallikarjuna, one of the jyotirlingas, whose temple legend is Puranic; the Chenchu tribe's claimed link…
Tiruchengode
Hill temple of Ardhanareeswarar, where an image of the half-woman form is taken in procession on Karthigai Deepam day…