Nageshwar Jyotirlinga, Dwarka

The Nageshwar jyotirlinga is located in Dwarka, on the coast of Saurashtra, in Gujarat. It is one of the 12 jyotirlinga in the world. A 25 m tall statue of Lord Shiva and a large garden with a pond are the major attractions that attract tourists here every year. Some archaeological excavations claim five earlier cities at the site.

Legend
Structure of Temple
Puja Timings
Festivals
How to Reach
Videos

Nageshwar was believed to be known as ‘Darukavana’, which is an ancient epic name of a forest in India. Below are two well-known legends attached to this mystical temple:

According to legend, there was a group of dwarves, the balakhilyas, who lived in Darukvana. They were devouts of Lord Shiv. To test their devotion, the Lord came to Darukavana disguised as a naked ascetic, wearing nothing but serpents on his body. The wives of the sages were drawn towards him and left their husbands. Enraged, the sages cursed the ascetic so that his ling (phallus) would fall off. The Shiv Ling then fell on the earth and the entire earth shuddered. Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma pleaded with Lord Shiva to take his ling back before the world was destroyed. Pacified, the Lord took back his linga but left a symbol of the linga that would remain there forever.

The second legend is that according to the Shiv Purana, hundreds of years ago two demons Daruka and Daruki lived in Darukavan. Daruka was blessed by Goddess Parvati. However, he misused the blessings and terrorized the local folks. One such time, he imprisoned a local woman, Supriya. Supriya told her fellow inmates to take the name of the Lord Shiva and no harm would come to them. When Daruka heard this, he was enraged. He rushed to kill her but Lord Shiv appeared to protect her. As Daruka was blessed by his own wife, the Lord could not kill him so instead he took the form of a lingam and promised to protect Supriya and the local folks forever in Dwarka.

Nageshwar jyotirling faces the South while the Gomugam faces east. There is a story to explain this position. There was once a devotee Namdev who was singing bhajans in front of the Lord. The other devotees asked him to move as he was obstructing the lord’s view. To this, Namdev asked them to point a direction where the Lord was not present. Enraged, the devotees took him away and left him facing south. When they returned, to their amazement, the statue was also facing south whereas the Gomugam now faced east.

Nageshwar-Temple-Lord-Shiva-Jyotirlinga — Nageshwar Jyotirlinga

Nageshwar morning aarti: 5:30 am

Shringaar time afternoon: 5:00 pm

Nageshwar afternoon aarti: 12:00 pm

Nageshwar evening aarti: 7:00 pm

Nageshwar temple close time: 9:00 pm

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga Pooja and Rituals

There are various poojas performed at Nageshwar Jyotirlinga and have different charges for it.

Rudraabhishek, the pooja conducted when Shiva is in it’s rudra (angry) form. The Shiva Linga is washed with water which continuously keeps pouring over it through a vessel along with continuous chanting of mantras.

Dudhabhishek, the pooja in which the Shiva Linga is washed with the continuous pouring of milk and enchanting of mantras.

There are various other forms of abhishekam and poojas known as rudrabhishek with bhog, ek somvar (one Monday), chaar somvaar (four Mondays), Laghurudra and Shravan

Maha Shivaratri is the most important festival celebrated. Thousands of devotees throng to the temple on the occasion of maha shivratri every year.

The Nageshwar jyotirlinga falls within Gujarat’s Dwarka district and in a place called ‘Darukavanam’. The route that runs between the city of Dwarka and the island of Bet Dwarka has the temple and the region stands along the coastline of Saurashtra.

How to Reach Nageshwar Jyotirlinga

In order to reach Nageshwar easily you first need to reach Dwarka. Dwarka station stands on the broad gauge railway track running between Ahmedabad and Okha. Apart from taking a train to Dwarka station you could also travel by train to Veraval station located only 7kms away from Dwarka. On reaching Veraval station you could take a bus or cab to reach Dwarka. If you wish to travel by flight, you need to fly to Jamnagar first as Jamnagar airport is the nearest airport to the city of Dwarka and then complete the rest of the journey by road. Traveling to Dwarka from any part of Gujarat is easy as the city is well connected by road transport to all other important cities of Gujarat. Once you have reached Dwarka you are very close to the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga which is only 25 mins drive away from the Dwarka city and can be reached by means of auto rickshaw or cab

Route Map and Distance Chart to Nageshwar Jyotirlinga

Reaching Nageshwar Jyotirlnga is not much of a hassle. The most common route map followed is-
Jamnagar-Dwarka [131kms approx]-Nageshwar [16kms approx]