Grishneshwar
Grishneshwar: It is located at a distance of 11 km from Daulatabad near Aurangabad, close to Near Ellora, in Maharashtra. Grishneshwar is an ancient pilgrimage site revered as the abode of one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva. Daulatabad was once known as Devagiri. Located nearby are the popular tourist attractions Ellora – featuring ancient rock cut monuments from the 1st millennnium CE, and Ajanta known for its exquisite cave paintings again from the 1st millennium CE.
The term Grishneshwar means the lord of compassion. Shiva is worshipped here as the Lord of Compassion who is believed to take away all the sufferings of his devotees.
Devotees of Lord Shiva believe that the act of worshipping this Jyotirlinga equals to worshipping all other Jyotirlingas.
According to the Skand Puran, once Lord Shiva came to this temple after getting upset with Devi Parvati. So, she too came to this temple in the form of a tribal girl to worship the Lord.
Grishneshwar Temple is one of those very few shrines in India where the Shiva Linga faces the east.
Devotees regard Shivalay Sarovar, a lake located near the temple, as a holy water body.
No yajnas or ritual sacrifices are performed in this temple since it represents Agni Tattva, one of the five fundamental forces of nature as per Hinduism.
The Grishneswar temple was constructed by Ahilyabhai Holkar who also re-constructed the Kasi Viswanatha temple at Benares and the Vishnu Paada temple at Gaya. Grishneshwar is also known as Ghushmeshwar.
Legend has it that a devout woman Kusuma offered worship to Shiva regularly by immersing a Shivalingam in a tank, as a part of her daily ritual worship. Her husband’s first wife, envious of her piety and standing in society murdered Kusuma’s son in cold blood. An aggrieved Ksuma continued her ritual worship, and when she immersed the Shivalingam again in the tank, her son was miraculously restored to life. Shiva is said to have appeared in front of her and the villagers, and then on is believed to have been worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlinga Ghusmeshwar.
Temple timings: 5:30 am to 11:00 pm daily; 3:00 am to 11:00 pm during the month of Shravana (August-September).
Things to see:
Ellora Digamber Jain Temple (600 m)
Ellora Caves (2 km)
Tomb of Malik Ambar (6 km)
Bhadra Maruti Temple (6 km)
Tomb of Aurangzeb (6 km)
Mughal Silk Bazaar (7 km)
Daulatabad Fort (15 km)
How to reach:
By air: Aurangabad Airport 41 km
By train: Aurangabad Railway Station 34 km
By bus: Well connected by bus to Aurangabad.
Accommodation: Plenty of good hotels at Aurangabad.
