The Sacred Origin
According to the Shiva Purana, at the dawn of creation a dispute arose between Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu over who was supreme. To end the quarrel, a boundless pillar of infinite light — the Jyotirlinga — appeared between them. Neither could find its top nor bottom. Lord Shiva emerged from the pillar and revealed that He was the source of all creation, preservation, and dissolution.
This pillar of radiance later manifested at twelve sacred sites across the Indian subcontinent — each a self-manifested (svayambhu) column of divine light. Pilgrims believe that darshan of all twelve Jyotirlingas in a single lifetime grants moksha — liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथं च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम् ।
उज्जयिन्यां महाकालम् ॐकारे पर्वतम् ॥