Grishneshwar Temple

Grishneshwar is a Shiva temple close to the Ellora Caves in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. Devotees count it as the last of India's twelve Jyotirlingas and also the smallest of them. Unusually, worshippers may touch the linga with their own hands inside the sanctum, and men are asked to take off their shirts before entering the garbhagriha.

The present building dates from the 18th century and mixes northern and southern temple styles, with carved walls and sculpture. Legend says a devout woman named Kusuma worshipped a linga beneath a tamarind tree until Shiva himself appeared on that spot. Inside the complex are the Shivalaya Teerth, a tank where pilgrims bathe and where a king named Bhosale is said to have been cured of leprosy, and an Audumbar tree thought to be over 300 years old, on which visitors tie threads when making a wish. The night-time Shayan Aarti draws large crowds.