12 Jyotirlingas: Complete List with States and Locations

All twelve Jyotirlingas with their exact locations, states and distinguishing features, plus the Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram that lists them in traditional order. Includes the common confusions (Nageshwar, Somnath's rebuilding, Mallikarjuna's Shakti Peetha overlap) and what a UPSC-style question on this topic usually tests.

All 12 Jyotirlingas, state by state

The twelve Jyotirlingas 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). Maharashtra has the most, with five if you count Aundha Nagnath, which some traditions place as Nageshwar instead of the Dwarka site. Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have two each.

That is the answer. The rest of this page is for the parts that trip people up.

The word jyotirlinga means a lingam of light. The theology behind it is that Shiva appeared as an infinite column of fire at these sites, and the shrine marks a svayambhu (self-manifested) lingam rather than one installed by a priest. That distinction matters, because it is why these twelve rank above thousands of other Shiva temples in the pilgrimage hierarchy.

#	Jyotirlinga	Place	State	Worth remembering
1	Somnath	Prabhas Patan, Veraval	Gujarat	Raided by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026; rebuilt repeatedly, last in 1951
2	Mallikarjuna	Srisailam, Nallamala hills	Andhra Pradesh	On the Krishna river; also a Shakti Peetha (Bhramaramba)
3	Mahakaleshwar	Ujjain	Madhya Pradesh	On the Shipra; the only south-facing (dakshinamukhi) Jyotirlinga; Bhasma Aarti
4	Omkareshwar	Mandhata island, Khandwa	Madhya Pradesh	On an island in the Narmada shaped like the Om symbol
5	Kedarnath	Rudraprayag district	Uttarakhand	Highest Jyotirlinga, near Mandakini; closed in winter; part of Char Dham
6	Bhimashankar	Pune district, Sahyadris	Maharashtra	Source region of the Bhima river; wildlife sanctuary (Malabar giant squirrel)
7	Kashi Vishwanath	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	Demolished under Aurangzeb; rebuilt 1780 by Ahilyabai Holkar
8	Trimbakeshwar	Nashik district	Maharashtra	Source of the Godavari; lingam has three faces (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh)
9	Vaidyanath	Deoghar	Jharkhand	Baidyanath Dham; the Shravani Mela kanwar route from Sultanganj
10	Nageshwar	Near Dwarka	Gujarat	Contested: Aundha Nagnath (Maharashtra) and Jageshwar (Uttarakhand) also claim it
11	Rameshwaram	Rameswaram island	Tamil Nadu	Longest temple corridor in India; also a Char Dham site
12	Grishneshwar	Verul, near Ellora, Aurangabad	Maharashtra	Smallest of the twelve; close to the Ellora caves

The verse that fixes the order

If you have ever wondered why every list you find uses the same sequence, it comes from the Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram, traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya. It runs roughly: Saurashtre Somanatham cha Srisaile Mallikarjunam, Ujjayinyam Mahakalam Omkaram Amaleshwaram, Paralyam Vaidyanatham cha Dakinyam Bhimashankaram, Setubandhe tu Ramesham Nagesham Darukavane, Varanasyam tu Vishwesham Trayambakam Gautamitate, Himalaye tu Kedaram Ghushmesham cha Shivalaye.

Notice that the verse names regions, not modern addresses. Saurashtra, Darukavana, Gautami-tata (the bank of the Godavari), Setubandha. That vagueness is exactly why three states argue over Nageshwar and two over Vaidyanath. The Puranas were not writing a travel guide.

Learn the verse order if you want a list you can reproduce under pressure. It is faster than memorising a table.

The disputes nobody warns you about

Nageshwar is the big one. The Dwarka site in Gujarat is the most widely accepted and the most visited, but Aundha Nagnath in Hingoli district of Maharashtra and Jageshwar in Almora, Uttarakhand both have old claims to being the Jyotirlinga in Darukavana. Most standard lists go with Dwarka.

Vaidyanath has a parallel fight. Deoghar in Jharkhand is the usual answer, and it is where lakhs of kanwariyas carry Ganga water from Sultanganj every Shravan. But Parli Vaijnath in Beed district, Maharashtra points to the stotram's word Paralyam and makes a decent textual case.

A third confusion is category overlap. Mallikarjuna at Srisailam is both a Jyotirlinga and a Shakti Peetha, which is unusual and often shows up as a trick in matching questions. Kedarnath and Rameshwaram are Jyotirlingas and Char Dham sites. Kashi Vishwanath sits inside the larger Kashi pilgrimage circuit. Keep the categories separate in your head and the overlaps become facts instead of traps.

Geography is the real exam angle

Almost every serious question on this topic is a disguised geography or history question. Trimbakeshwar is where the Godavari rises. Bhimashankar sits in the Sahyadris near the headwaters of the Bhima, a Krishna tributary, and the surrounding sanctuary is known for the Indian giant squirrel. Omkareshwar is on a Narmada island at Mandhata. Mallikarjuna overlooks the Krishna in the Nallamala hills, close to the Srisailam dam and the tiger reserve.

So the chain to build is temple to river to state to landform. That single chain lets one fact answer four different question types.

The history angle is just as productive. Somnath was raided by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026 and has been rebuilt several times, the modern structure being completed in 1951 under the push led by Sardar Patel and inaugurated by President Rajendra Prasad. The current Kashi Vishwanath temple was built in 1780 by Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, after the earlier structure was destroyed during Aurangzeb's reign. Grishneshwar, the twelfth, was restored in the eighteenth century by the same Ahilyabai, and it stands a short walk from the Ellora caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

How to remember twelve of anything

Grouping beats sequencing. Clusters stick, lists do not.

Try it by state: Maharashtra three (Bhimashankar, Trimbakeshwar, Grishneshwar), Gujarat two (Somnath, Nageshwar), Madhya Pradesh two (Mahakaleshwar, Omkareshwar), and then five singles in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Three plus two plus two plus five. Once the counts are locked, recalling the names inside each bucket is much easier than scanning a flat list of twelve.

Then attach one hook per temple. Mahakaleshwar: south-facing, Bhasma Aarti. Kedarnath: highest, closes in winter. Grishneshwar: smallest, next to Ellora. Rameshwaram: longest corridor. The hook is what survives six months of revision, not the name alone. If you can say the state and one distinguishing fact for each of the twelve, you have taken this topic as far as it is worth taking.

FAQs

1. Which state has the most Jyotirlingas?

Maharashtra, with three universally accepted ones: Bhimashankar near Pune, Trimbakeshwar near Nashik and Grishneshwar near Ellora. If the Aundha Nagnath and Parli Vaijnath claims are counted, the number rises to five, which is why some sources say Maharashtra has five.

2. Which is the oldest Jyotirlinga?

Somnath in Gujarat is traditionally called the first of the twelve and is listed first in the Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Stotram. The present building dates only to 1951, since the temple was destroyed and rebuilt several times, beginning with Mahmud of Ghazni's raid in 1026.

3. Is Nageshwar in Gujarat or Maharashtra?

Most accepted lists place Nageshwar near Dwarka in Gujarat. Aundha Nagnath in Hingoli district of Maharashtra and Jageshwar in Uttarakhand also claim the title, because the stotram only says Darukavane without naming a modern location.

4. What is the difference between a Jyotirlinga and a Shakti Peetha?

Jyotirlingas are twelve shrines where Shiva is believed to have appeared as a column of light, while Shakti Peethas mark the places where parts of Sati's body are said to have fallen. Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh is both, housing the Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga and the Bhramaramba Shakti Peetha.

5. Why is Mahakaleshwar called the only south-facing Jyotirlinga?

The lingam at Ujjain faces south, which is the direction associated with Yama and death, giving it the name dakshinamukhi. It is also the only Jyotirlinga where the Bhasma Aarti, performed with sacred ash in the early morning, is a daily ritual.

6. Can all 12 Jyotirlingas be visited in one trip?

Yes, though they span nine states from Uttarakhand to Tamil Nadu, so a full circuit typically takes two to three weeks by road and rail. Kedarnath is the constraint, as it remains closed roughly from November to April.