A Brahmin named Bhardwaj who lived with his wife Sudharma on a mountain named Devagiri in the south. This Brahmin was rich, generous, bright and a great devotee of Lord Shiva. His wife Sudeha was also a beautiful, versatile woman and a great devotee of Lord Shiva. When she could not conceive for a long time. So she tried everything possible to get the happiness of becoming a mother. But all went in vain. Finally, Sudeha went to her husband upset and insisted that he do something about it, else she would kill herself.
Hearing this from his wife, the Brahmin got upset and started worshiping Lord Shiva, then he offered two flowers in the yagya and wished his wife that if his wife would pick a flower from his right hand, she would pick it up. , get a son but Sudeha chose the wrong flower.
Seeing this the brahmin got disheartened and told his wife that nothing can be contradicted by what the Lord has created and asked her to give up the hope of getting a son and serve the Lord. But Sudeha did not give up her desire for a son and requested her husband to marry her once again so that she could have a son.
The Brahmin disagreed with this and tried to convince him that it would be unfair to go against the will of the Lord. Deprived of motherhood, Sudeha got her husband married to her sister Ghushma. Ghushma made earthly Shivlingas daily as per her sister's orders, worshiped Lord Shiva and immersed these Shivlings in a nearby lake.
Soon with the blessings of Lord Shiva, Ghushma gave birth to a handsome and multi-talented son. The Brahmin was very happy to see her, but seeing this, Sudeha became sad and became jealous of her sister.
When her son grew up, Ghushma married her son and brought home his bride. Seeing her sister's happy family, Sudeha's heart was filled with envy and she went mad and one night she killed Ghushma's son while he was sleeping and drowned his body in the same lake where Ghushma used to immerse Shivalingas.
After this cruel act of his, Sudeha came back to her house and slept happily. The next morning, Ghushma and Sudeha get up as usual and go about their daily chores. When Ghushma's daughter-in-law woke up and saw her husband's bed stained with blood, she got scared and ran to Ghushma and told her this and started wailing.
But even in such a difficult situation, Ghushma did not give up her usual devotional worship and when she went to the lake to immerse the Parthiv Shivling as usual, she found her son standing by the lake. Ghushma looked at him in wonder and his son told him that it was because of his good deeds that his son was blessed with life.
At the same time, Lord Shiva appeared there and told Ghushma that he was pleased with her prayer and that it was her sister who had killed her son. Hearing this, Ghushma requested Lord Shiva to forgive Sudeha. Pleased by her generosity, Lord Shiva asked Ghushma to ask for a boon. Ghushma then asked Lord
Shiva for a boon to reside there and bless everyone. Lord Shiva accordingly installed himself as Ghushmeshwar Jyotirlinga and blessed Ghushma that her future generations would also be blessed with great sons. Later, Sudeha went with Ghushma and both of them worshiped Lord Shiva. It is believed that worshiping here brings happiness and prosperity.