Situated in the outskirts of Dwaraka, Nageshwar Temple or Nagnath Temple is one of the prominent Shiva shrines in India and this temple represents the removal of evil activities from earth. As one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, this shrine houses a curious myth about its origin.
Nageshwar Mandir, Dwarka, India has quite a few interesting legends attached to it. According to Shiv Purana, Supriya, an ardent Shiva devotee, was once attacked by a demon Daaruka while he was in a boat. The demon put him in prison along with several others at Daarukaavana, his capital, where he stayed with his wife Daaruki. Supriya told all prisoners to narrate the mantra ‘Aum Namaha Shivaya’. When Daaruka learnt about this, he ran to kill Supriya. However, at that instant, Lord Shiva appeared as a Jyotirlingam and vanquished Daaruki with the Paasupata Astram.
At Nageshwar Mandir in Dwarka, the Nageshwar Mahadev Sivalingam faces south while the Gomugam faces east. There is a popular story for this position. One day, Naamdev, an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, was singing bhajans facing the Lord. Other devotees told him to stand aside and not block the front view of the Lord. To this, Naamdev asked these people to propose one direction in which the Lord is not present, so that he can stand there. The angry devotees carried him out of the temple and left him on the south side. To their surprise, they found that the Sivalingam was now facing the south direction with the Gomugam facing east.
Nageshwar Mahadeva temple, an ancient temple located on the coast of Saurashtra, is a beautiful shrine placed between Dwaraka and Bet Dwaraka islands nearby Saputara in Gujarat. The temple enshrines the main deity of Lord Shiva placed in an underground sanctorum and it has the credit of being one of the twelve Jyothirlingas of Lord Shiva.
The temple attracts many thousands of devotees from far and near. Shivarathri is celebrated here with splendor and pomp. The temple surroundings are picturesque and a serene atmosphere prevails all through seasons. This is a nice religious spot to pay a visit.
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