Jvāleśvara is a self-manifested Śivaliṅga (svayambhū) on the bank of the Narmadā at Amarakaṇṭaka. It rose where Bhagavān Śiva stilled the flames of Tripura, the three flying cities of Bāṇāsura, after he burned them. It is a jyotirmaya liṅga, a liṅga of light, born of Tripura’s fire and Bhagavān Śiva’s own power to hold it. Both the Padma Mahā Purāṇa and the Matsya Mahā Purāṇa tell of its origin and glory.

Origin of the Jvāleśvara liṅga

The Padma Purāṇa account

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Svarga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15, tells it this way. Bhagavān Śiva destroyed the three cities of Bāṇāsura’s Tripura with his pāśupata arrow. The three burning cities fell to the earth. One city fell at Śrīśaila. Another fell at Amarakaṇṭaka. The flames of this fallen city rose up until they touched the sky. The sound of the burning made the devas, asuras and kinnaras cry out in wonder and in fear.

Bhagavān Śiva saw that the flames threatened all creation. He arrested them (stambhita) and held them fixed at Amarakaṇṭaka. The place where he stilled and held the flames became the site of the Jvāleśvara liṅga. It is a svayambhū liṅga. Men did not install it. It came from the meeting of Tripura’s fire and the restraining śakti (power) of Parameśvara.

The Svarga Khaṇḍa also says that after the destruction of Tripura, Bhagavān Śiva established a koṭi of Rudras at this place. That is one crore (ten million) forms of Rudra, who guard the Jvāleśvara kshetra for ever.

The Matsya Purāṇa account

The Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 186 and 187, in its Narmadā Māhātmya, tells the same event on the Narmadā shore. Bāṇāsura had done tapas (austerity) for one hundred thousand years. He composed the famous Toṭaka-stotra in praise of Bhagavān Śiva. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased, appeared before him and gave him a city in the sky.

Nārada’s mission then succeeded in turning the women of that city against Bhagavān Śiva. This led in the end to the city’s destruction, and Bhagavān Śiva burned Tripura. The remains of the city fell on the Narmadā shore near Amarakaṇṭaka. Flames rose from the fallen city and threatened the whole region.

Bhagavān Śiva arrested the flames, and the Jvāleśvara liṅga arose from the place where they were stilled. This tīrtha on the Narmadā is linked with the vara (boon) that Bhagavān Śiva gave Bāṇāsura: blessings that are akshaya (imperishable), avyaya (inexhaustible) and nirbhaya (fearless).

Merit of the Jvāleśvara kshetra

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Svarga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15, describes the great puṇya (merit) of a pilgrimage to the Jvāleśvara kshetra.

Those who die at this kshetra are freed from rebirth.
A pilgrimage during grahaṇa (an eclipse) gives the reward of ten aśvamedha yajñas (horse sacrifices).
Those who come during sūrya-grahaṇa (a solar eclipse) receive the fruit of a puṇḍarīka yajña. At that moment all tīrthas and all devas gather at Amarakaṇṭaka.
Visitors to this kshetra live in svarga and the fourteen lokas for thirty-one thousand years. After that they are reborn as righteous kings.

The koṭi Rudras

After the burning of Tripura, Bhagavān Śiva himself established a koṭi of Rudras, one crore Rudra forms, at Jvāleśvara. They stay here always as the guardians of the kshetra.

Sources

Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Svarga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15
Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 186–187