Mysur: Here is a happy news for devotees of Lord Shiva, people of the city need not criss-cross the country to have darshan of 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva.

There are a total of 64 Jyotirlingas in the country according to Hindu mythology. Of this, 12 Jyotirlingas are highly visited by devotees as worshipping Lord Shiva and visiting them is said to cleanse the body and mind of all sins.

The 12 Jyotirlingas highly visited by the people are Somnath Jyotirlinga at Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Vaidyanath at Jharkhand, Rameshwar at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, Nageshwara at Gujarat, Bhimashankar at Maharashtra,  Kashi Vishwanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Trimbakeshwar at Nashik in Maharashtra, Kedarnath at Kedar in Uttarakhand and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

However, people of the city can have darshan of all these 12 Jyotirlingas under one roof at newly constructed Dwadasha  Jyotirlinga Temple in Srirampura 2nd Stage near Vivekanandanagar in city.

Inauguration

The Temple is constructed and managed by Veerashaiva Sneha Balaga, Kuvempunagar in city. City-based Madanavali Vishalendra Jain couple funded the entire cost for installation of all 12 Jyotirlingas under one roof at this Temple.

The Temple was consecrated and inaugurated by Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji in the presence of  a huge gathering of devotees this morning. Speaking after the inauguration, the Seer bemoaned about people fighting in the name of God and religion across the world. He said, “there is one God with different names. The main aim of all religion is spiritual development. People should stop fighting in the name of God and religion.”

Emphasising that the country is rich in culture and tradition, he said that people in the nation worship God in many names on all 365 days in a year as part of various festivals and rituals. He said that this Temple, which was constructed by Veerashaiva Balaga, was an amalgamation of Shiva, Vaishnava and Jainism faith.

Highlighting that Temples are centres of communal harmony, he wanted people to shun hatred and favour mutual love and understanding for a peaceful society.

MLA S.A. Ramdas appreciated Veerashaiva Sneha Balaga for constructing this Temple for the spread of peace, love and harmony among people.

Former MLA M.K. Somashekar, Vid. Shelvapillai Iyengar, Balaga President H.G. Guruprasad, Corporators M. Chamapaka, Manjunath and M.C. Ramesh were present.