Vishvanatha temple Bhimashankar Temple

Vishvanatha temple is situated on the banks of the holy river Ganga in Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the most famous temple of Shiva in India and attracts thousands of pilgrims every year. The famous Manikaran ghat is the place where countless Hindus have been cremated. The fires of cremation have never been extinguished here since time immemorial since dead bodies are being constantly brought there. Anyone who sits for a few minutes at this ghat will realize the transitory quality of life and start looking deeper into the meaning of life. The creator Brahma himself is supposed to have done tapasya in this spot. It is said that Varanasi will not be destroyed even at the time of the great deluge when the rest of the world goes into dissolution. Shiva will raise the city on the point of his trident and protect it while destruction rages all around.
There is another story connected with this city. Once Shiva and Parvati had gone to the world of Brahma. He began reciting hymns through all his five mouths in praise of Shiva. But one of the mouths was making mistakes and so Shiva, who was a perfectionist where music was concerned, plucked off the head which was making mistakes. But since this was a great crime, Shiva found that he could not shake off the head which had stuck to his back. For many years he went round with the head on his back. It was only when he went to the holy city of Varanasi that the head fell off. So Shiva decided that he would stay there in the form of a lingam. This lingam is called Vishwanatha or the Lord of the universe. The first humans to worship there were Swaymbhu Manu and his wife Shatarupa who were the first couple to be created by Brahma.

The temple of Vaidyanatha is situated in the state of Bihar in the town of Deogarh. Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, was a great devotee of Shiva. He practiced intense tapasya in the Himalayas, but still Shiva failed to appear, So he made a fire and decided to sacrifice all his ten heads. He started throwing them one by one into the fire. After the ninth, Shiva appeared and asked him what he wanted. Ravana prayed for superhuman strength and the restoration of his nine heads. Only Shiva could grant such a boon for he was Vaidyanatha, the Lord of all physicians. Shiva also gave him a wonderful jyotirlinga and told him to take it straight to his capital city of Lanka. He warned him never to put it down. Ravana started back carrying the radiant lingam. The gods feared that if he took it to Lanka, he would indeed become invincible so they sent Ganesha to thwart him. Ganesha took the form of a young brahmachari and appeared before Ravana just as he felt a terrible urge to answer the call of nature. Ravana was forced to give the lingam to the boy who had so providentially appeared before him and warned him never to keep it down. Hardly had Ravana gone than Ganesha put the lingam down. When Ravana returned he found no trace of the boy and try as he would he was unable to budge the lingam which had become rooted to the spot! This is the lingam which is known as Vaidyanatha.

Ramanatha Swamy Temple Rameshwaram

The huge temple of Rameshwaram is situated on the island called Rameshwaran in the state of Tamilnadu. This spot is the closest bit of land in India to the island of Sri Lanka. Ravana, the demon king of Lanka had abducted Sita, the wife of Rama, king of Ayodhya and taken her to his island fortress. Rama came to rescue her but before he could cross the straits which separated the mainland from the island of Lanka, he made a lingam of Shiva and prayed to him to help him rescue his wife. Shiva appeared and blessed him with all success. Rama requested Shiva to stay in that spot forever. This is the lingam called Ramalingeswara and it is one of the most famous places of worship in India.

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