Ghuśmeśvara, also spelled Ghṛshṇeśvara, is the twelfth and last of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas, the self-arisen liṅgas of light of Śiva (a liṅga is Śiva’s sacred sign or form). It is at Verul (Ellora) in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, close to the famous Ellora Caves.

Its story is about two sisters, Sudehā and Ghuśmā (also called Kusumā), and their shared husband, the brāhmaṇa Sudharmā. Sudehā, the elder wife, had no children, so she gave her younger sister Ghuśmā to Sudharmā as a second wife. Every day Ghuśmā made one hundred and one pārthiva liṅgas (liṅgas of earth), offered them pūjā, and placed them in the same lake. Śiva blessed her with a son. Overcome by jealousy, Sudehā later killed the boy and threw his body into that lake. When Ghuśmā learned of it, she carried on her pūjā calmly. Śiva appeared, brought her son back to life, and offered to kill Sudehā, but Ghuśmā, full of compassion, pleaded for her sister. Pleased with her forgiveness, Śiva made his home there as Ghuśmeśvara.

Location

The temple of Ghuśmeśvara (Ghṛshṇeśvara) is in the village of Verul (Ellora) in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. It is near the Devagiri fort (Daulatabad) and very close to the famous rock-cut Ellora Caves.

The Story of Its Origin

Sudharmā, Sudehā and Ghuśmā

A brāhmaṇa named Sudharmā lived in the Devagiri region and was known for his learning and goodness. His wife Sudehā was devoted and virtuous, but she had no children. Deeply sad that she could not give her husband an heir, Sudehā arranged for Sudharmā to marry her own younger sister Ghuśmā as a second wife. This act was both generous and, underneath, touched with jealousy.

Ghuśmā’s One Hundred and One Liṅgas

Ghuśmā was a devotee of Śiva with a burning love. Every day she made one hundred and one pārthiva liṅgas, offered pūjā to each one, and then placed them all in a nearby lake. This practice, so exact, so regular and so large, showed an extraordinary devotion. Ghuśmā kept it up for years.

Pleased by her sincere and steady pūjā, Śiva blessed Ghuśmā with a son, a beautiful, healthy child who became the joy of both Ghuśmā and Sudharmā.

Sudehā’s Jealousy and the Murder

When Ghuśmā’s son grew up and married, Sudehā’s slow-burning jealousy reached breaking point. She had accepted having no children herself, but seeing Ghuśmā’s family flourish became too much for her. In a terrible act of violence, Sudehā killed Ghuśmā’s son and threw his body into the very lake where Ghuśmā had been placing her liṅgas all those years. It was a deliberate insult to the holiest place in Ghuśmā’s life of devotion.

Ghuśmā’s Unshaken Devotion

When the murder was found out, the household was broken with grief. Yet Ghuśmā, after the first shock, did something remarkable: she went back to her daily pūjā of the pārthiva liṅgas as usual. Her devotion did not depend on what happened to her. She went to the lake, made her hundred and one liṅgas, offered pūjā and began placing them in the water. As she did so, she found her son in the lake, among the dissolved clay liṅgas, alive, whole and unharmed. Śiva had given him back.

Śiva Appears and Ghuśmā Forgives

Parameśvara appeared to Ghuśmā in his shining form. He offered to punish and destroy Sudehā for her terrible crime. Ghuśmā answered with great compassion:

“Sudehā is my elder sister. She arranged my marriage with my husband. Whatever she did, she did out of pain and jealousy, not out of pure malice alone. I forgive her completely. Please do not harm her.”

Śiva was moved that Ghuśmā could forgive even the murder of her son, and he granted her wish. Sudehā was spared. Everyone gathered there, the son, Sudharmā, and the devas and ṛshis who were present, asked Śiva to stay at this place for ever. Śiva agreed and made his home at Verul as Ghuśmeśvara, the Īśvara honoured by Ghuśmā.

Why It Matters

Ghuśmeśvara is the last Jyotirliṅga in the traditional list, and its story may be the most human and personal of all twelve. There is no great war between devas and asuras. There is only a family tragedy of jealousy and murder, and a devotee whose heart was so firmly rooted in Śiva that even the murder of her son did not break her pūjā. Ghuśmā’s plea for Sudehā, her refusal to let Śiva punish the one who hurt her, is shown as the highest sign that a bhakta (devotee) shares Śiva’s own nature: the compassionate one who does not seek revenge.

The daily making of one hundred and one pārthiva liṅgas and placing them in the lake is another special feature of this story. The lake itself becomes holy, filled with years of dissolved liṅgas offered in devotion, and it is from these gathered liṅgas that her son is finally given back.

Sources

Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 32–33

Ghuśmeśvara Jyotirliṅga