List of Shiva temples in India

Shiva is one of the principal deities in Hinduism and is considered part of the Trimurti alongside Brahma and Vishnu. Numerous temples dedicated to Shiva exist across India and beyond, often featuring lingams as representations of the deity. Hindu scriptures describe the worship of Shiva and the establishment of temples and shrines across the Indian subcontinent. Among these, the Jyotirlinga temples are considered particularly significant within Shaivism.

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples as mentioned in the Shiva Purana are :-

Pancha Bhuta Sthalams (Five Elemental Manifestations)

In South India, five temples of Shiva are held to be particularly important, as being manifestations of him in the five elemental substances.

Pancharama temples

The Pancharama Kshetras are five ancient Hindu temples of Shiva situated in Andhra Pradesh. The lingams at these temples are made from a single lingam. As per the legend, this lingam was owned by the demon king Tarakasura. No one could win over him due to the power of this lingam. Finally, Kartikeya, the son of Shiva broke the lingam into five pieces and killed Tarakasura. The five pieces of lingam fell at five different places on earth namely,

Arama Name	Shiva's Name	Consort Name	Location
Amararama	Amaralingeswara Swamy	Bala Chamundika Ammavaru	Amaravathi village, Andhra Pradesh
Draksharama	Bhimesvara Swamy	Manikyamba Ammavaru	Draksharama, Andhra Pradesh
Somarama	Someswara Swamy	Sri Rajarajeswari Ammavaru	Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh
Ksheerarama	Ksheera Ramalingeswara Swamy	Parvati Ammavaru	Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh
Bhimarama	Kumara Bhimeswara Swamy	Bala Tripurasundari Ammavaru	Samalkota, Andhra Pradesh

Pancha Sabhai

The five temples located in Tamil Nadu where Shiva is believed to perform the tandava dance are:

Sabha	Temple	Location
Pon Sabha	Natarajar Temple	Chidambaram
Velli Sabha	Meenakshi Temple	Madurai
Thamira Sabha	Nellaiappar Temple	Tirunelveli
Rathna Sabha	Sri Vadaranyeswarar Temple	Thiruvalangadu
Chitira Sabha	Kutraleeswar Temple	Kutralam

Ashta Veeratta Temples

Temple	Deity	Commemorates	Location
Veerateeswarar Temple, Thirukovilur	Veerateeswarar	Shiva slaying Andhakasura in the form of Andhakasuramurti	Tirukoilur
Veerateeswarar Temple, Thiruvathigai	Veerateeswarar	Shiva killing Tripurasura and destroying the three cities in the form of Tripurantaka	Panruti
Veerateeswarar Temple, Korukkai	Veerateeswarar	Shiva burning Kamadeva with his third eye in the form of Kamari	Mayiladuthurai
Kandeeswarar Temple, Kandiyur	Brahmasirakandeeswarar	Shiva decapitating the fifth head of Brahma in the form of Bhairava	Thanjavur
Amritaghateswarar-Abirami Temple, Thirukkadaiyur	Amritaghateswarar	Shiva defeating Yama and blessing Markandeya to remain a youth of 16 in the form of Kalantaka	Mayiladuthurai
Veerateeswarar Temple, Thirupariyalur	Veerateeswarar	Shiva beheading Daksha and destroyed Daksha Yajna in the form of Virabhadra	Mayiladuthurai
Veerateeswarar Temple, Vazhuvur	Veerateeswarar	Shiva killing Gajasura in the form of Gajasurasamhara	Mayiladuthurai
Veerateeswarar Temple, Thiruvirkudi	Veerateeswarar	Shiva killing Jalandhara in the form of Jalandharari	Mayiladuthurai

Shani Parihara Temples

Sabha	Temple	Location
Sani Parihara Sthalam	Tirunallar Saniswaran Temple	Thirunallaru, Puducherry
Sani Parihara Sthalam	Sri Darbarneeswarar Temple	Devasthanam
Shani Parihara	Chenchadainathar Shiva Temple	Sayalkudi, Tamil Nadu
Shani Parihara	Sri Mandeswara Swamy Vari Devasthanam	-

Kashiswar Jiu temple

Kashiswar Jiu temple is in Andul of Howrah district near the Saraswati river, West Bengal in India. The presiding deity is a Banlinga which was recovered from the river in mid 17th century by Kashiswar Datta Chowdhury, a local zamindar. In 18th century a stone made yoni-like structure that symbolizes goddess Shakti has been attached with the lingam after Bargi attacked in 1741 AD. The deity is considered to be one of the oldest in the district.