Nageshwar Templeਨਾਗੇਸ਼ਵਰ ਮੰਦਰ

Nageshwar Temple stands on the road between Dwarka and Bet Dwarka island in Gujarat, at a spot tradition calls Daarukavanam, the Darukavana forest. It is one of the shrines claimed as the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga, the 'Nagesha in Darukavana' of the ancient hymn to the twelve Jyotirlingas. Its lingam sits in a below-ground sanctum and faces south, a rare orientation, while a 25-metre seated Shiva outside is visible for miles around.

What is Nageshwar Temple?

Nageshwar Temple is a Shiva temple in Devbhumi Dwarka district, Gujarat, about 17 kilometres from Dwarka on the road to Bet Dwarka island, on the Saurashtra coast. Nageshwar means 'Lord of Serpents', and Shiva is worshipped here in that form. The temple claims a place among the twelve Jyotirlingas, but it is not the undisputed holder: two other shrines, Jageshwar in Uttarakhand and Aundha Naganath in Maharashtra, stake the same claim, and any honest account has to say so.

The Darukavana debate: which shrine is the true Jyotirlinga?

The textual basis of the dispute is a verse of the Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram: 'Setubandhe tu Ramesham Nagesham Darukavane', 'Nagesha in Darukavana'. Where exactly the legendary Darukavana forest was is genuinely debated.

The Dwarka shrine's case rests on reading 'Darukavana' as 'Dwarakavana', and the Shiva Mahapurana places Nageshwar by the western, Arabian, sea, which suits Gujarat's coast. Jageshwar's case is botanical: darukavana likely comes from daru, the deodar, which grows abundantly only in the western Himalayas, and the treatise Prasadmandanam describes a sacred deodar forest north of the Himalayas. Aundha Naganath's case is textual: another verse of the stotra praises Naganath in the south, 'yamye', at Sadanga, the ancient name of Aundh.

There is no settled verdict, and pilgrims visit all three. The Dwarka temple is the Gujarat claimant of the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga, and this entry presents it as exactly that.

The legend of Supriya and the demon Daruka

The Shiva Purana tells how the shrine came to be. The demon Daruka and his wife Daruka, a devotee of Parvati, imprisoned the Shiva devotee Supriya in their underwater city, and the Darukavana forest was renamed for them. At Supriya's urging, the prisoners chanted Om Namah Shivaya; Shiva appeared, destroyed the demon and stayed on as the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga. Worship at Nageshwar is traditionally linked to protection from poisons and snake bites, fitting for the Lord of Serpents.

What is inside the temple?

The Jyotirlinga sits in a below-ground garbhagriha, the original sanctum, which was left in place when the temple was rebuilt above it. The lingam is described as shaped like a three-faced Rudraksha bead, its shalunka silver-plated with a silver Naga and a figure of Parvati behind it. It faces south, an unusual orientation for a Shiva shrine.

The present red-painted building dates to the 1990s. Gulshan Kumar, the founder of T-Series, funded the rebuilding after finding the original shrine dilapidated during his own twelve-Jyotirlinga pilgrimage; a devotee hall and towers were raised over the old structure. Near the entrance stands the temple's most photographed feature: a seated Shiva about 25 metres tall, a modern landmark visible from the Dwarka to Bet Dwarka road, though it is not the object of worship.

Planning a visit

The temple sits about 17 kilometres from Dwarka and is usually visited on the same trip as the Dwarkadhish temple and Bet Dwarka. Common timings are 6:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 5:00 to 9:30 PM, and Maha Shivaratri is the main festival of the year. There is no entry fee.