Forms (Murtis) of Lord Shiva

Shiva Siddhanta - Considers the Lord Shiva to be arupa (formless). It is stated that for the salvation of human kind he took the form of Lingam (It is considered as Arupa of Arup Rupa). Lingam is considered as SadaShiva murti. From this SadaShiva murti, Lord Shiva manifested in various forms. These murtis are known as Maheshwara murtis. Of these 25 are known but there may be more. These murtis can be classified into Bhogamurtis, Yogamurtis, Vegamurtis. Generally SadaShiva murti is found in Sanctum Sanctorum (Gabhara). The Maheshwara murtis are found in the Prahaaram i.e. outside the Sanctum Sanctorum.

25 Maheshwara murtis are as follows

1. Bhikshatanar 
2. Kamari 
3. Kalari 
4. Kalyanasundarar 
5. Rishabharuder 
6. Chandrasekharar 
7. UmaMaheshwarar 
8. Natarajar 
9. Tripurantkar 
10. Jalandhari 
11. GajaSamharmurty 
12. Veerabhadrar (Karalar) 
13. ShankarNarayan 
14. ArdhaNarishwarar 
15. Kiratar 
16. Kankalar 
17. Chandeshanugrahar 
18. Chakrapradar 
19. Somaskandar 
20. Ekapadar 
21. Vighneshanugrahar 
22. Dakshinamurthy 
23. Neelkanthar 
24. Lingodbavar 
25. Sukhasanar

Besides these it is customary in the Shiva temples of South India to list the following 64 murtis also. These are kept in the Prahaaram (Parikrama) along with 63 ShaivaSiddhanta saints knows as Nayanmars.

1. Shivalingam 
2. Lingodbhavar 
3. Mukhalingam 
4. SadaShivam 
5. MahaSadaShivam 
6. Uma Maheshwar 
7. Sukasanamurty 
8. Umeshmurty 
9. Somaskandamurty 
10. Chandrasekharmurty 
11. Vrishabharudmurty 
12. Vrishantikarmurty 
13. Bhujangalitmurty 
14. Bhujangastarmurty 
15. Sandhiyanrittamurty 
16. Sadanrittamurty 
17. Chandatanadamurty 
18. Gangadharmurty 
19. Gajavisarjanamurty 
20. Tripurantakamurty 
21. KalyanSundarmurty 
22. Ardhanarishwarmurty 
23. Gajasamharmurty 
24. Jvarabhagnamurty 
25. Shardhulharamurty 
26. Pasupatmurty
27. Gangalmurty 
28. Keshavarthamurty 
29. Bhikhatanamurty 
30. Simhaganamurty 
31. Chandeshwaranugrahamurty 
32. Vyakhyahadakshinamurty 
33. YogaDakshinamurty 
34. Veenadhardakshinamurty 
35. Kaiantakamurty 
36. Kamanmurty (Kamadhanamurty) 
37. Vaghuleshwaramurty 
38. Bhairavamurty 
39. Apatuddranamurty 
40. Vadukamurty 
41. Kshetrepalmurty 
42. Veerbhadramurty 
43. Agorastramurty 
44. Dakshinagyaharamurty 
45. Kiratamurty 
46. Gurumurty 
47. Ashwarudhamurty 
48. Gajantikamurty 
49. Jalandharvatamurty 
50. Ekpadatrimurty 
51. Tripadatrimurty 
52. Ekpadmamurty 
53. Gaurivarapradamurty 
54. Chakradaneshwarswarupamurty 
55. Gaurisamanavitmurty 
56. Vrishbharanmurty 
57. Garudanikmurty 
58. Brahasirchetakamurty 
59. kurmasamharmurty 
60. Matsyrimurty 
61. Varaharimurty 
62. Prarthamurty 
63. Raktabhisekhapradhanmurty 
64. Shishyabhavmurty 

There are other swarupas also found in the temples of south India.

Shri Ghrushneshwar

This is the twelfth Jyotirlinga. According to Madhwamunishwar there is no other place on earth except this where Lord Ghrushneshwar resides. This Jyotirlinga is located at Verul in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. It is about 30 km west of Aurangabad.

Legends

This place was original settlement of Naga tribes. The place was known as Bambi (place of Nagas) which is "Varul" in Marathi. With passing of time, the name changed to Verul or Yelur. 

There are number of legends associated with this place. A king that had gone on a hunting spree killed animals belonging to Rishis and Munis along with other animals. Due to the curse of Rishis, his whole body was infected with insects. After searching the entire forest for water, he found a water hole. When he drank water from the hole, he was cured of the disease. He did severe penance at that place and got the divine vision of Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma created Parastha-theertha at this place, which later became known as Brahma-Sarovar or Shivalay.

According to another legend in the puranas, the nearby Yelaganga river which takes its origins in the forest known as Kamyakavana. Once Parvati was about to fill her hair parting with vermilion and saffron. She mixed them with water from Shivalay. The vermilion turned into Shivalinga with a great light emanating from it. Lord Shiva removed this linga with his trident. Parvati installed this linga here and named it Kumkumeshwar. Since this was created with the thumb of her hand while mixing the vermillion, she named the linga Grushneshwar.

Another legend from the puranas, there was a pious brahmin named Sudharma who had no issue. His wife Sudeha made him marry her sister Ghushma, a staunch devotee of lord Shiva. Ghushma gave birth to a boy, but her elder sister Sudeha, out of jealousy, threw the boy in a pond where a shivalinga was immersed earlier by Ghushma. After the death of her son, Ghushma started worshiping Lord Shiva more intensely. Lord Shiva granted his vision to Ghushma who requested to forgive her sister. Highly merciful Lord Shiva brought the boy to life and stayed at that place as Ghushmeshwar which later became known as Ghrushneshwar. Devi Parvati accompanied Lord Shiva as Ghrushneshwari. The present temple was constructed by the patel of the village who had secured a treasure in a snake pit. The Ajanta and Ellora caves are close to this place.

This completes a small narration about the twelve Jyotirlingas. We have tried out level best to present the details.

Shri Vaidyanath

There are three locations that are considered for this Jyotirlinga. There is a legend associated with each location. Three locations are Parali near Ambejogai in Maharashtra, Deogarh in Jharkhand and Baijanath in Himachal Pradesh. 

Baijanath in Himachal Pradesh is considered as one of the most scared abodes of Lord Shiva. The Demon king Ravana was a staunch worshiper for Shiva. By cutting his ten heads one after the other he offered them as a sacrifice to Lord Shiva during a Tapasya. Pleased by his devotion, Lord Shiva cured Ravana of his injury. As Lord Shiva acted as a doctor in this case, he is known as Baijanath in Himachal Pradesh.

The second legend is associated with the Jyotirlinga at Parali. Devi Yogeshwari of Ambejogai was to be married to Lord Vaidyanatha of Parali. The marriage party arrived late at Ambejogai as a result of which the marriage party members were turned into stone by Yogeshwari (Parvati). Another legend at this place is attributed to Samudra-Manthan. After Samudra-Manthan, Lord Vishnu hid Danavantri, along with other gems, inside the Shivalinga. When the demons tried to snatch away the gems, huge flames came out of the linga and the demons had to retreat. Therefore there is a belief that the abhishek teertha that comes out from the shivalinga has properties to cure diseases. A banyan tree (Vata-Vruksha) near the vataveshwar temple is believed to be the spot where the incident of Savitri and Satyavan took place. A pond nearby is named after Markandeya rishi. This spot is believed to the place where the rishi got the boom of eternal life (Chiranjeevi) from Lord Shiva.

At Deogarh the legend is that, Ravana desired to perform ablutions and as there was no water nearby he hit the ground with his fist. Then there emerged a pond called ShivaGanga. He worshiped sivalinga and sacrificed his hands one by one. Finally Lord Shiva appeared and gave him a boom of invincibility and restored his hands. Hence the shivalinga is known as Vaidyanath.