Once, Many years ago, in the southern part of the country, there lived a Brahmin, Sudharma, who lived hapily with his wife. Sudeha. But unfortunately, they were childless. This made Sudeha very upset and forlorn. When Sudeha came to know that she could never give birth to a child, she asked Gruhshma, her sister, to marry Sudharma so that she could bear him a child instead .

Gruhsuma agreed and the Brahmin and his two wives lived very happily. Gruhshma was a devotee of Shiva. Every day she made one hundred and one lingas and floated them in the nearby pond. Eventually, Gruhshma gave birth to a baby boy. The family now lived very peacefully with all their wishes granted. Meanwhile, Sudeha became jealous of Gruhshma and her son.

One day, Sudeha killed Gruhshma's son and dumped his body in the pond. The next morning, when everybody discovered the death of the young boy, everyone was very upset and grieved for him. However, Gruhshma calmly performed her daily ritual of floating the lingas in the pond. Soon Gruhshma's son emerged from the pond and walked towards her safe and alive.

Shiva also appeared. He was very angry and wanted to punish Sudeha for attempting to kill the little child but Gruhshna begged him to forgive her sister. On Gruhshma's request, Shiva became the Jyotirling Grushmeshwar and stayed there.