Which jyotirlinga is the only one that faces south, and is therefore called Dakshinamukhi?
- A.Omkareshwar
- B.Mahakaleshwar
- C.Somnath
- D.Grishneshwar
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Mahakaleshwar. The jyotirlinga at Ujjain is installed facing south, which is why it is called Dakshinamukhi, and it is the only one of the twelve with that orientation. The temple is also the only one where the Bhasma Aarti is performed, an offering of ash made before dawn, and it stands on the bank of the Shipra, the river of the Simhastha Kumbh.
Option A is wrong because Omkareshwar, though also in Madhya Pradesh, has no such distinction; its mark is the island setting in the Narmada. Option C is wrong because Somnath on the Gujarat coast is remembered for being rebuilt many times after repeated raids. Option D is wrong because Grishneshwar near Ellora in Maharashtra is counted as the last of the twelve.
Read the full article: Jyotirlingas, Temples and Religious Places of MP Notes
Practice Questions
View allWhich two of the twelve jyotirlingas are located in Madhya Pradesh?
- A.Somnath and Nageshwar
- B.Mahakaleshwar and Omkareshwar
- C.Bhimashankar and Trimbakeshwar
- D.Kedarnath and Vishwanath
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Mahakaleshwar stands at Ujjain on the bank of the Shipra and is the only south-facing jyotirlinga, known for the Bhasma Aarti performed before dawn.
Read the full explanation →The Omkareshwar jyotirlinga stands on an island in which river?
- A.Shipra
- B.Betwa
- C.Narmada
- D.Chambal
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Omkareshwar is on the island of Mandhata in the Narmada, in Khandwa district, and the island is said to take the shape of the syllable Om, from which the name comes.
Read the full explanation →The temples of Khajuraho were built by which dynasty?
- A.Paramara
- B.Chandela
- C.Bundela
- D.Kalachuri
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The Chandela rulers of Jejakabhukti built the Khajuraho group in Chhatarpur district between about 950 and 1050 CE, in the Nagara style with clustered shikharas rising over the sanctum.
Read the full explanation →Which is the largest temple in the Khajuraho group?
- A.Lakshmana temple
- B.Chausath Yogini temple
- C.Kandariya Mahadeva temple
- D.Matangeshwara temple
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It is the largest and most developed of the Khajuraho temples, built in the western group under the Chandela ruler Vidyadhara in the early eleventh century, and it shows the Nagara plan at its fullest, with a cluster of smaller shikharas rising like foothills to the main spire over the…
Read the full explanation →The unfinished Bhojeshwar temple at Bhojpur, with one of the largest Shiva lingams in India, was begun by which ruler?
- A.Raja Bhoja of the Paramara dynasty
- B.Vidyadhara of the Chandela dynasty
- C.Bir Singh Deo of the Bundela dynasty
- D.Gangeyadeva of the Kalachuri dynasty
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Bhoja, who ruled from Dhar in the eleventh century and is remembered as a scholar king, began the Bhojeshwar temple at Bhojpur in Raisen district on the Betwa.
Read the full explanation →