The 12 Jyotirlingas in Order (With States, Rivers and the Two Disputed Ones)
The 12 Jyotirlingas in the order commonly used, with state, town and the river or hill each one sits on. Also covers why the Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram recites a different sequence, which two sites have rival claimants, and how to hold all twelve in memory using state clusters rather than rote repetition.
The 12 Jyotirlingas in the order commonly used, with state, town and the river or hill each one sits on. Also covers why the Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram recites a different sequence, which two sites have rival claimants, and how to hold all twelve in memory using state clusters rather than rote repetition.
The 12 Jyotirlingas in order
The 12 Jyotirlingas in order are Somnath (Gujarat), Mallikarjuna (Andhra Pradesh), Mahakaleshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand), Bhimashankar (Maharashtra), Kashi Vishwanath (Uttar Pradesh), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra), Vaidyanath (Jharkhand), Nageshwar (Gujarat), Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu) and Grishneshwar (Maharashtra). That is the sequence nearly every list uses, and it is the one worth memorising. The Sanskrit hymn that names them recites them in a slightly different order, which is why you occasionally find lists that seem to contradict each other.
The table below is the whole answer with the details attached. Read the third column at least twice. The river or the hill is what examiners hang a question on, not the temple.
| # | Jyotirlinga | Town / Location | State | Anchor detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somnath | Prabhas Patan, near Veraval | Gujarat | Arabian Sea coast; rebuilt after 1947 at Sardar Patel's push, reopened 1951 |
| 2 | Mallikarjuna | Srisailam | Andhra Pradesh | Nallamala hills, on the Krishna; also a Shakti Peetha |
| 3 | Mahakaleshwar | Ujjain | Madhya Pradesh | Banks of the Shipra; site of the Simhastha Kumbh |
| 4 | Omkareshwar | Mandhata island, Khandwa district | Madhya Pradesh | Island in the Narmada |
| 5 | Kedarnath | Rudraprayag district | Uttarakhand | Near the Mandakini, roughly 3,580 m; part of Char Dham |
| 6 | Bhimashankar | Pune district | Maharashtra | Sahyadris, source of the Bhima; wildlife sanctuary of the Indian giant squirrel |
| 7 | Kashi Vishwanath | Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh | Left bank of the Ganga; rebuilt by Ahilyabai Holkar, 1780 |
| 8 | Trimbakeshwar | Nashik district | Maharashtra | Brahmagiri hill, source of the Godavari |
| 9 | Vaidyanath (Baidyanath) | Deoghar | Jharkhand | Shravani Mela; Parli Vaijnath in Maharashtra also claims the title |
| 10 | Nageshwar | Near Dwarka | Gujarat | Darukavana of the legend; Aundha Nagnath and Jageshwar are rival claimants |
| 11 | Rameshwaram (Ramanathaswamy) | Pamban island | Tamil Nadu | Longest temple corridor in India; part of Char Dham |
| 12 | Grishneshwar | Verul, near Ellora | Maharashtra | Walking distance from the Ellora caves, a UNESCO site |
Why there are two "orders"
The list is old, and it comes from a verse, not a table. The Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram begins with Saurashtra Somanatham and Sri Shaile Mallikarjunam, so the first two are fixed. But the hymn then moves to Ujjain and Omkareshwar, and only after that names Parli Vaidyanath, Bhimashankar, Rameshwar, Nagesh, Vishwesh, Trimbak, Kedar and Ghushmesh. So Vaidyanath sits fourth or fifth in the hymn and ninth in the popular list.
Does that matter for you? Only in one way. If a question ever asks for the order, it will mean the standard numbered list, because that is what every textbook, tourism board and temple trust prints. Learn that one. Keep the hymn as background so a contradictory list on the internet does not shake your confidence the night before the exam.
The two contested sites
Two entries have competing claims, and both are old arguments, not recent inventions.
Vaidyanath is usually placed at Deoghar in Jharkhand, where lakhs of kanwariyas walk from Sultanganj during Shravan. Parli Vaijnath in Beed district, Maharashtra, claims the same identity, and the stotram's wording (Paralyam Vaidyanatham) gives that claim real weight. Nageshwar is generally the temple near Dwarka in Gujarat, but Aundha Nagnath in Hingoli, Maharashtra, and Jageshwar in Almora, Uttarakhand, both make the case too.
For a prelims answer, go with Deoghar and Dwarka. If you get an interview question or a Mains culture question where nuance helps, one sentence acknowledging the rival claims is enough. Do not turn it into a debate.
How to hold all twelve without cramming
Rote repetition of twelve names fails under pressure. State clusters do not. Count them by state and the map does the remembering for you.
Maharashtra has three, Bhimashankar, Trimbakeshwar and Grishneshwar. Madhya Pradesh has two, both in the Malwa and Narmada belt. Gujarat has two, Somnath in the south and Nageshwar near Dwarka in the west. Then five states carry one each: Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu. Three, two, two and five ones. Twelve.
Now layer the water. Mahakaleshwar on the Shipra, Omkareshwar on the Narmada, Kashi on the Ganga, Trimbakeshwar at the Godavari's source, Bhimashankar at the Bhima's, Mallikarjuna above the Krishna, Kedarnath near the Mandakini. Somnath and Rameshwaram are coastal. That single layer answers most of the questions that get set on this topic, because examiners prefer river and hill links to temple architecture. If you like building these clusters, the same method is what makes the SDG goals trick style of sequencing work for other list-heavy topics.
One last thing. Twelve Jyotirlingas, four Char Dham, eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas. Keep those numbers separate in your head, because the confusion in exam halls is almost always between lists, not within them.
FAQs
1. Which is the first Jyotirlinga?
Somnath in Gujarat, at Prabhas Patan near Veraval, is counted first in both the popular list and the Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram. The present structure was rebuilt after Independence and reopened in 1951.
2. Which state has the most Jyotirlingas?
Maharashtra, with three undisputed ones: Bhimashankar, Trimbakeshwar and Grishneshwar. If you include the contested claims of Parli Vaijnath and Aundha Nagnath, the state's count rises to five.
3. Is Kedarnath a Jyotirlinga or a Char Dham?
Both. Kedarnath is the fifth Jyotirlinga and also one of the four sites of the Chota Char Dham circuit in Uttarakhand, along with Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
4. Are all 12 Jyotirlingas open through the year?
Eleven are. Kedarnath is the exception, since the shrine closes around Diwali and reopens near Akshaya Tritiya in late April or early May because of Himalayan snow.
5. What is the difference between a Jyotirlinga and a Shakti Peetha?
Jyotirlingas are twelve shrines of Shiva said to mark self manifested pillars of light, while Shakti Peethas are sites linked to the fall of Sati's body parts and are counted as eighteen major ones. Srisailam is unusual because it is on both lists.
6. Which Jyotirlinga is nearest to a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Grishneshwar in Verul, Maharashtra, sits within walking distance of the Ellora caves. It is the twelfth and last name in the standard order.