Shree Nageshwar Jyotirlinga

Location : Darukavanam (Aunda)
Description : Nageshvara Jyotirlinga is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned in the Shiva Purana (Satarudra Sa?hita Ch.42/2-4 referred as "nagesham darukavane"). Nageshvara is believed as the first Jyotirlinga on the earth. There are three major shrines in India which are believed as identical to this Jyotirlinga. Those are the Jageshwar temple near Almora in Uttarakhand state the Nageshwara temple near Dwaraka in Gujarat state and the Nagnath temple in Aundha in Maharashtra state.\r\nAt present there is a debate on location of epic forest Darukavana so as to identify the jyotirlinga of Nageswaram. Since no other important clues are left in the text which help in locating the place Darukavana remains as the vital clue.\r\nDarukavana the name being derived from daruvana [meaning forest of deodar trees] is taken by many to exist in Almora. Deodar (daru vriksha) is found only in western Himalayas in abundance and is not found in peninsular India. There has been a continuous association of deodar trees with Lord Shiva in ancient Hindu texts. Hindu sages used to reside and perform meditation in deodar forests to please Lord Shiva.\r\nThus most identify the Jageswara temple in Almora Uttarkhand as Nageshvara Jyotirlinga.\r\nThe very name of Darukavana in text could be misread as Dwarakavana to locate Jyotirlinga at Nageswara temple at Dwaraka. In fact there is no legendary forest at this part of dwaraka that finds mention in any of the India epics. In the narratives of Shri Krishna we find mention of Somanatha and adjoining Prabhasa tirtha but never there is any mention of Nageswara or Darukavana in Dwaraka and outskirts.\r\nDarukavana can also be taken to exist adjacent to Vindhya Mountains. It is south-southwest of the Vindhyas extending to sea in west. In the Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotra (6) [8] Shankaracharya praised this Jyotirlinga as Naganath: "Yamye sadange nagaretiramye vibhushitangam vividhaishcha bhogai Sadbhaktimuktipradamishamekam shrinaganatham sharanam prapadye"\r\nThis could be taken to provide evidence that it is located in the south [yamye] at the town of Sadanga the ancient name of Aundh in Maharashtra located south compared to Jageswara shrine in Uttarkhand and Dwaraka Nageshvara at West end. Pandavas came here during their Vanvas (life in forests) build a hermitage for themselves. Their cows used to go to the same river bank to drink water. After drinking wate milk used to automatically flow into the river as if the cows were offering to the river. One day Bhima saw this miraculous event. He promptly told Dharmaraja about the same. Then Dharmaraja said “Surely some great God must be living in this river”. Then the Pandavas started removing the water from te river. The middle part of the river was so hot that the water there was boiling.\r\nBheema lifted his mace attacked the river thrice. The water gave way instantly. At the very moment instead blood started oozing like a spring. Lord Shankara’s Linga could be seen as the JyotirLinga.\r\nOn the west coast in an area of 16 Yojanas Daruka and Daruk need to live. The hermits were tired of being harassed by Daruk and others. So they went and sought refuge with Orvamuni who in turn cursed the Demons that they would be destroyed. The Devas launched an attack on the Demons. Now the Demons began to worry. Daruka who received some special boons from Parvati lifted the entire forest took it away on the path of the sky and put it in the middle of the sea. Only then did the Demons relax and continue to live there. They used to go by boats and capture the hermits and imprison them the island. Once there was a Shiva devotee by the name Supriya who was among the prisoners. He never ate food or drank water without worshipping Shiva. He continued to do Puja even while in prison. \r\nWhen the guards informed their chief about his he ordered that Supriya be put to death. Then Supriya prayed to Lord Shankara for his life. The Lord appeared before him immediately and destroyed the entire group of demons including their families. The Lord laid open the entire island for all the four classes of people for living. On the other land Parvati here granted a boon to Daruka. As a result at the end of that era only Demons would be created and she would rule Daruka. Lord Shiva accepted this. Then Shiva and Parvati stayed there. Shiva once again assumed the form of JyotirLinga with the name Nageshwar and Parvati was known as Nageshwari.
Nearest Stations :
   East : Rajkot:151 Km
   West : Sea:0 Km
   North : Sea:0 Km
   South : Sea:0 Km