Dawn is the hour

Most of the twelve open before five, and the first darshan of the day is both the calmest and the most atmospheric. At Ujjain, dawn is not a preference but the entire point: the Bhasma Aarti begins in the small hours, and it is the one ritual on this circuit that people travel across the country specifically to see.

Abhishekam

— the pouring of milk, water, honey and ghee over the linga — happens through the morning, and at most of the twelve pilgrims can participate by handing an offering to the priest at the sanctum. This is the characteristic act of Shiva worship and it is worth doing once, properly, rather than photographing.

Queues build from mid-morning

and are worst on Mondays, which are Shiva''s day, and on Pradosh and Shivaratri. If you have a choice of day, avoid Monday. If you cannot, be there at opening.

Afternoons

most large temples close for a few hours. Use them. This is when you visit whatever else is in the town — Ellora if you are at Grishneshwar, the ghats if you are at Kashi, the Narmada if you are at Omkareshwar.

Evening aarti

is the second good hour, and at Varanasi it merges into the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh, which is the single most photographed ritual in India and still worth every minute.

Maha Shivaratri

, in late winter, is the night of the year for all twelve. The temples stay open through the night, the crowds are immense, and the atmosphere is extraordinary. Go knowing what you are choosing.

Maharashtra — three, plus Shirdi

Trimbakeshwar is about half an hour from Nashik. Bhimashankar is roughly four hours from Pune, high in the Sahyadris inside a wildlife sanctuary. Grishneshwar is at Verul, a few minutes from the Ellora caves and about half an hour from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Nashik, Pune and Aurangabad airports serve these, and a week covers all three comfortably with Ellora, Ajanta and Shirdi added.

Madhya Pradesh — two, a morning apart

Mahakaleshwar at Ujjain and Omkareshwar on the Narmada are both within reach of Indore, which has the airport. Ujjain is about two hours from Indore, Omkareshwar around two and a half. Three days does both properly, and Maheshwar nearby is worth a night.

Gujarat — two, plus a dham

Somnath on the Saurashtra coast and Nageshwar near Dwarka, about four hours apart, with Dwarka itself in between. Diu, Junagadh and Girnar are all close. Rajkot, Diu and Jamnagar are the airports. Five days.

The far ones, each their own journey

Kedarnath in Uttarakhand — a sixteen-kilometre climb, open only May to October, with mandatory state registration; see the Char Dham Yatra guide. Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi, easy to reach and best given three nights for the city itself. Vaidyanath at Deoghar in Jharkhand, with Jasidih the railhead and Deoghar''s own small airport. Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra, about five hours from Hyderabad through the Nallamala forest. Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, four hours from Madurai across the Pamban bridge.

If you have one week and want the best of it,

take Maharashtra: three jyotirlingas, the Ellora caves, and Shirdi, in one manageable loop.

Cluster it, and give up on completing it quickly

This is the whole strategy. Twelve shrines across eight states cannot be done well in one push, and pilgrims who try describe a blur of airports. Take Maharashtra''s three, or Madhya Pradesh''s two, or Gujarat''s two, and do them with the region around them.

Decide about Shravan

July and August are the holiest weeks for Shiva and the hardest for travel — monsoon, and crowds at a scale most visitors have never seen. At Deoghar the Shravani Mela brings enormous numbers of kanwariyas walking over a hundred kilometres from Sultanganj carrying Ganga water. It is one of the great sights of religious India and it is not a comfortable one. Winter is the practical season.

For the Bhasma Aarti at Ujjain, arrange it well in advance

Entry into the sanctum for the pre-dawn ash ritual is limited and handled through the temple administration ahead of the day, and there are dress requirements — traditionally a dhoti for men and a saree for women for sanctum entry during the aarti. Turning up on the morning and hoping is the commonest disappointment on this circuit. Sort it weeks ahead.

For Kedarnath, treat it as a mountain expedition, not a temple visit

Sixteen kilometres uphill above three thousand metres, open only in season, with mandatory Uttarakhand registration. Six weeks of walking beforehand. The Char Dham Yatra (Uttarakhand) guide covers it in full.

Avoid Mondays where you can

Shiva''s day, and the queues reflect it.

Understand that some sanctums restrict entry

At several of the twelve, entry into the inner sanctum to touch or bathe the linga yourself is limited — sometimes to those in traditional dress, sometimes by a separate arrangement, sometimes not at all during busy hours. Darshan from outside the sanctum is the normal experience and is not a lesser one.

Carry the offering, or buy it at the gate

Bilva leaves, milk, water from a holy river, flowers. Stalls outside every temple sell the standard tray. Handing it to the priest at the sanctum is how you take part.

Ordinary fitness is enough for eleven of the twelve

Bhimashankar involves some steps and a hill; Kedarnath is in a different category entirely.

Read the story of the jyotirlingas before you go

Twelve Shiva temples with no context become repetitive by the fourth. With the myth in your head, each one is a different chapter.

Cotton clothes, modest, shoulders and knees covered

For Ujjain''s Bhasma Aarti specifically, traditional dress is required for sanctum entry — a dhoti for men, a saree for women — so either carry it or arrange it in Ujjain, where it is easily done.

Slip-on footwear

, removed at every temple, often at a stand well away from the sanctum. Nothing you would mind losing, and socks for hot stone.

A cloth bag, not leather

Many sanctums do not permit leather. Check your belt and wallet too.

A small towel and a change of shirt

Abhishekam is a wet business and so is Rameswaram.

Phone pouch or a plan for leaving your phone

Several of the twelve — Kashi Vishwanath among them — do not permit phones or cameras inside and have deposit counters. Travel light through the gate.

Sun protection

Hat, sunscreen, sunglasses. Somnath''s seafront and Srisailam''s approach are exposed.

A torch,

for pre-dawn starts, which will be most mornings.

Water bottle, rehydration salts, basic medical kit

and your own prescriptions.

For Kedarnath, an entirely separate mountain kit

thermals, fleece, waterproof shell, broken-in trekking shoes, poles, warm hat and gloves, headtorch, and the Uttarakhand registration QR.

For a Shravan or Shivaratri visit, add patience, a small bag you can keep in front of you, and the acceptance that you will move slowly

Shoes off well before the temple

, at the stand where everyone else has left theirs. Leather belts, wallets and bags are frequently prohibited past a certain point — leave them behind rather than argue at the gate.

Dress modestly

For entry into some sanctums, and for the Bhasma Aarti at Ujjain, traditional dress is required rather than merely preferred.

Go clockwise around the sanctum

— though note that at Shiva temples the circumambulation is traditionally not completed in a full circle, because the channel that carries the abhishekam water away from the linga is not crossed. Watch what others do; they will turn back at the channel and go round the other way.

Offer, do not touch

Hand your bilva leaves, milk or water to the priest at the sanctum rather than reaching past him, unless you have been invited to perform the abhishekam yourself. Where sanctum entry is permitted, follow the priest''s instructions exactly.

Photography is prohibited inside

, and at several of the twelve phones must be deposited at the entrance. There are counters. Use them rather than trying to carry the phone in.

Your darshan will be brief

, especially at Kashi Vishwanath, Somnath and Mahakaleshwar, where the crowds are constant. Guards will move you along. This is normal and happens to everyone.

Take prasad and vibhuti with your right hand

Sacred ash is offered at most Shiva temples; the customary gesture is to take a pinch and apply it to your forehead.

Do not step over anyone seated or prostrate,

and do not point your feet at the sanctum.

At Varanasi especially, be firm and courteous with the approach

Kashi Vishwanath''s lanes are dense with people offering guiding, garlands, priestly services and shortcuts. Some are legitimate. Decide beforehand what you want, and decline the rest with a smile.

Non-Hindus are welcome at most of the twelve

, though sanctum access may be restricted for everyone at busy times, and a few temples apply their own rules. Behave as the person beside you behaves and you will be fine.

The Bhasma Aarti at Ujjain is the thing to plan the whole trip around

Before dawn, in near darkness, the linga is bathed and then anointed with sacred ash to drums and bells and a room full of people who have waited months to be there. There is nothing else quite like it in Hindu practice. Entry is limited and arranged in advance through the temple, and there are dress requirements. Sort it weeks ahead — this is the single most common regret on this circuit.

Do not attempt all twelve in one trip

I have said it twice already and it is still the main thing. Five clusters, five holidays.

Skip Monday if you have the choice

And Shivaratri, unless the crowd is the point.

Grishneshwar and Ellora are the same morning

The twelfth jyotirlinga is minutes from one of the greatest rock-cut monuments on earth, and many pilgrims do the temple and leave without seeing the Kailasa temple at Ellora — a single building carved downward out of one piece of rock. Do not be one of them.

Omkareshwar is worth an overnight

Most people come for the darshan and go. The island in the Narmada, the parikrama path around it, and the river at dusk are the reason to stay.

Bhimashankar is a forest, not just a temple

It sits inside a wildlife sanctuary in the Western Ghats, and the drive up and the walk around it are half the value. Go in the days after monsoon when the Sahyadris are green.

Somnath faces the open ocean

with no land between it and the Antarctic — there is a marker on the seafront that says so. Stand there at sunset.

Deoghar in Shravan will overwhelm you

If you go then, go knowing that you are joining several hundred thousand people, many of whom have walked more than a hundred kilometres barefoot in the rain. It is one of the most extraordinary things you will see in India, and it is not a sightseeing trip.

And do not be disappointed by the darshan itself

A jyotirlinga is usually a small, dark, unspectacular stone in a small, dark room, and you will see it for a few seconds. That is what it is. The weight of it is in what people bring to it — and in the eleven others, in eight states, that you are slowly connecting into one shape.