Nageshvara, Devbhumi Dwarka

The Nageshvara Jyotirlinga temple at Nageshwar in Devbhumi Dwarka district, Gujarat, 20 kilometres from Dwarka — the tenth of the twelve Shiva Jyotirlingas in the traditional South Asian Shaiva pilgrimage circuit. The deity Nageshvara is Shiva as 'lord of serpents' (naga + ishvara). The current temple structure is 1996-rebuilt by the T. T. Rangarajan family of the Garuda Trust. A massive 25-metre seated Shiva statue (installed 1996) overlooks the temple complex — one of the largest Shiva idols in India. The temple is on the pilgrim route combining the Dwarka char-dham, the Dwarkadhish temple and the Bet Dwarka island temple. The annual Shivaratri festival each February draws over 500,000 pilgrims. The alternative Nageshvara jyotirlinga identifications in Hingoli, Maharashtra and Audha, Maharashtra (both Nagnath temples) remain unresolved in Shaiva tradition.