Ranbireshwar temple, Jammu

Jammu is known as the city of Temples. Shri Ranbireshwar temple is considered to be the oldest temple in the Jammu city. Ranbireshwar temple is situated on Shalimar road in front of Jammu-Kashmir civil secretariat in Jammu city. This is a three storeyed huge temple which is visited by a large number of devotees daily.  This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It was built by Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1883. Later on the temple was named after him.
The temple is believed to be the biggest temple of Lord Shiva in north India. One of the features of the temple is that it is built on first floor and is situated at a big height from the road surface. The devotees have to take stairs to reach to the temple. The main attraction of the temple is the idol and Shivlinga of Lord Shiva.

The idol of Lord Shiva is very beautiful and is considered to be unique. The Shivlinga is 8 feet high and is made from single black stone. It was built by the rulers of Dogra dynasty. There are 12 more Shivlingas in the temple which are made of crystal. These Shivalingas are 18inches high and 12 inches wide. There is a slab inside the temple on the right and left side which has around 1.25 lakhs Shivalingas brought from Narmada River. There are also idols of Lord Ganesha, Kartikeya and Nandi in the temple. The idol of Nandi is made of brass and weighs around 1000 kg.

Though all the festivals are celebrated in this temple, the festival of Maha Shivratri is celebrated with much fanfare at a grand level. 

 The rare Ekadash Lingams made of Safatik (a special transparent white stone) is rarely seen in the Shiva temples which were specially brought by Maharaja Ranbir Singh from Banaras. Not only this , Shaligrams in two adjoining halls of the temple were also specially brought from the bed of Narmada river. Shaligrams have special significance for Lord Shiva worshippers. In addition to all this, there are small temples having idols of Mahakali, Panchmukhi Hanuman, Shani Devta, Ganesha and Kartik , the elder son of Lord Shiva just outside the main temple. On one side of Nandi, is a huge metallic bell which weighs over a quintal. The place where this temple has been built was a small hill and a saint used to perform meditation at this place whose Samadhi has been built below the temple in the large open land. The temple has a large space for worshippers who can sit and do meditation inside the temple.