Ghrneshvar

(“Lord of Compassion”) One of the
twelve jyotirlingas, a group of images of
the god Shiva that are deemed particularly holy and powerful. Shiva is believed
to be uniquely present at these places.
This particular jyotirlinga is located in
the village of Velur in the state of
Maharashtra, and is also known as
Dhushmeshvar. This site is unusual
because the form of Shiva that resides
here is known by two different names
and has no unequivocal charter myth.
At none of the other jyotirlingas is there
any doubt about the presiding deity’s
form or how it came to be there. This
indicates that Ghrneshvar is a minor
site, perhaps one simply filling out
the catalog of the jyotirlingas to get
the number up to twelve. Despite
this apparent lack of importance,
Ghrneshvar is arguably the most-visited
of the jyotirlingas. It is only a few
miles from the world famous cave
temples at Ellora and is a regular stop
on the local tourist circuit. The temple is
fairly small but is well kept and very
impressive. Male visitors are required to
remove their shirts before entering
Shiva’s presence.