Trimbakeshwar
Trimbakeshwar
Temple
Trimbakeshwar,
or Trimbak, is a small town 30 km west of Nasik. The
town is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Tri means "three"
and ambak means "eye." Shiva is called the three-eyed
one, as his spiritual eye is opened, meaning that he
is enlightened.
The
Trimbakeshwar temple contains one of the 12 Jyotirlingas
(naturally occuring lingas) in India. There is a belief
that anybody who visits Trimbakeshwar attains salvation.
It is considered to be the holiest place to perform
Shraddha ceremony as mentioned in Nirnaya
Sindhu—a
religious book of Hindus. Non-Hindus are not allowed
inside the temple but one can get a clear view from
outside.
A hill above Trimbak
called Brahmagiri is the source of the Godavari, one
of the most important holy rivers in India. This river
flows almost 1,000 km east to the Bay of Bengal.
Although the Kumbha
Mela is held nearby in Nasik, it is said that Trimbak
is actually the spot where the drop of nectar fell from
the Kumbha vessel, for which the Kumbha Mela is famous.
A few minutes' walk
from the Trimbakeshwar Temple is Kushawarth Tirtha, a
bathing tank containing water from the Godavari. This
place is mentioned in the Puranas. It is said to have
been named for the sacred kusha grass that used to grow
in profusion around it.
Kushavarta
bathing tank
Pillared hall at Kushavarta tank
Legend has it that
in ancient times, Sage Gautama once saw a cow grazing
in the paddy field and he drove her away by throwing
darbha (sharp, pointed grass). The cow died by this.
Gautama requested the Rishis to show a way out of this
sin. He was advised to approach Lord Shiva and request
him to release Ganges and that a bath in the Ganges
would set him free of his sins. Gautama then practised
penance by going to the peak of Brahmagiri, above Trimbakeshwar.
Lord Shiva was pleased by his worship and gave him
the Ganges, in the form of the Godavari River. However,
Gautama could not bathe in her waters until he surrounded
the river with enchanted grass and prayed to her. The
river's flow stopped there and the tank thus came to
be called Kushavarta. The sin of killing a cow
by Gautama was thus wiped away here.
—From a Shirdi Sai Baba
Web site, www.shirdi.org.uk
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