Shri Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga

One of the places to visit in Ellora Caves is the Grishneshwar Temple, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pilgrims visit this Aurangabad Jyotirlinga to worship Lord Shiva, making it an important religious site. It is also famous as Ghrneshwar Temple or Dhushmeshwar Temple.

Everyone is welcome to visit the Grishneshwar Temple. However, men must be bare-chested to enter the Garbhagriha, the main temple housing the Shiva Linga. It is also one of the few places in India where people can touch the Shiva Linga with their bare hands. Ellora Caves tour packages often include a visit to this sacred site.

Mythology and Religious Importance

The legend of Grishneshwar tells the story of Ghushma, a woman who married her sister's husband, Sudharm, to avoid childlessness. She advised her to pray to Lord Shiva, create 101 Shivalingas, and immerse them in a water body. Sudeha killed her son, and the son married Ghushma. The next day, Ghushma found her husband missing, and chanting, she saw her son. Lord Shiva appeared, asked her to reside eternally, and became known as Ghushmeshwar.

Architectural Style and Temple Structure

•    The design of the Grishneshwar Temple is typical of South Indian temples.

•    There are inner rooms and a sanctum sanctorum in the temple building.

•    Red stones form the building, which covers 44,400 square feet of space. Even at these sizes, the Grishneshwar Temple is the smallest of the Jyotirlingas.

•    There are five levels of shikhara in the temple, and there are many pillars with detailed carvings of historical scenes.

•    The red stone walls mostly show stories about Lord Shiva and the ten forms of Lord Vishnu.

•    The Shivalinga faces east in the garbhagriha, also known as the sanctum sanctorum. There is a figure of Nandi in the hallway, and it's about 289 square feet in size.

History of Grishneshwar Temple

People believe that the Grishneshwar Temple was erected before the 13th century. After the Mughal Empire conquered Velur (now Ellora), they demolished the temple between the 13th and 14th centuries due to Hindu-Muslim strife.

As ruler of Verul, Maloji Bhosale, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's grandfather, helped restore the temple in the 16th century. Maloji Bhosale unearthed a buried treasure and rebuilt the temple, also creating an artificial lake in Shanishingnapur.

After the 16th century, the Mughals attacked Grishneshwar Temple again. It was rebuilt many times during the 1680–1707 Mughal-Maratha wars. The Marathas vanquished the Mughals and finally reconstructed the temple in the 18th century. Rani Ahalyabai, Queen of Indore, funded the temple's renovation, which is still visible.