Trimbakeshwar or Tryambakeshwar is an ancient Hindu temple in the town of Trimbak, in the Trimbakeshwar tehsil in the Nashik District of Maharashtra, India, 28 km from the city of Nashik and 40 km from nashik road. It is dedicated to the god Shiv and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, where the Hindu genealogy registers at Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra are kept. The origin of the sacred Godavari river is near Trimbak.
Kusavarta, a kunda (sacred pond) in the temple premises is the source of the Godavari River, the longest river in peninsular India. The current temple was built by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (Nanasaheb).
As per the Shiv Purana, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of preservation) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiv pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga.
Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards
respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma
lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiv
appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would
have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the
end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiv partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiv appeared as a fiery column of light.Originally there were believed to be 64 jyotirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. Each of the twelve jyotirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiv. At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiv. The twelve jyothirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath at Deoghar in Jharkhand, Nageshwar Temple, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.Lord Shiv showed himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Aridra
Nakshatra. It is believed that a person can see the Jyotirlingas as
columns of fire piercing through the earth as he reaches a higher level
of spiritual attainment.Each Jyotirlinga site takes the name of the
presiding deity. Basically, The Jyotilinga signifies the infinite nature
of Lord Shiv. At the highest level, Shiv is regarded as formless,
limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman and the primal
Atman (soul, self) of the universe.
Trimbakeshwar is a religious center having one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.
The extraordinary feature of the Jyotirlinga located here is its three
faces embodying Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Rudra. Due to
excessive use of water, the linga has started to erode. It is said that
this erosion symbolizes the eroding nature of human society. The Lingas
are covered by a jeweled crown which is placed over the Gold Mask of
Tridev (Brahma Vishnu Mahesh). The crown is said to be from the age of
Pandavs and consists of diamonds, emeralds, and many precious stones.
The crown is displayed every Monday from 4-5 pm (Shiv).
All other Jyotirlingas have Shiv as the main deity. The entire black stone temple is known for its appealing architecture and sculpture and is at the foothills of a mountain called Brahmagiri. Three sources of the Godavari originate from the Brahmagiri mountain.
Brahmadev worshipped God Trivikram when he came to Satya Loka (on
earth) with the same holy water of the Ganges, to get the river Ganges
held up by God Shankar on his head, to flow. There was a famine of 24
years and people were affected by the pangs of hunger. However, Varun -
the God of Rains, pleased with Sage Gautama arranged rains every day in
Gautama's Ashram (dwelling place) which was in Trimbakeshwar.
Gautama used to sow rice in the surrounding fields of his Ashram in the
morning, reap the crop in the afternoon and with it fed a large group
of Hrishis, who took shelter in his Ashram on account of the famine. The
blessings of the group of Hrishis increased the merit (Punya) of
Gautama. Lord Indra's position became shaky because of his increased
merit. So Indra ordered clouds to rain all over Trimbakeshwar, so that
the famine will be over and Hrishis will go back and the increasing
merits of Gautama will be weakened. Although the famine was over,
Gautama urged the Rishis to stay back and kept on feeding them and
gaining merit. Once he saw a cow grazing in the paddy field and he drove
her away by throwing Darbha (sharp, pointed grass). The slender cow
died by this. It was Jaya - Parvati's friend, who had taken the form of a
cow. This news upset the Rishis and they refused to luncheon at his
Ashram. Gautama requested Rishis to show a way out of this sin. He was
advised to approach Lord Shiv and request him to release Ganges and a
bath in the Ganges would set him free of his sins. Gautama then
practiced penance by going to the peak of Brahmagiri for 1000 years.
Lord Shankara was pleased by his worships and gave him the Ganges.
However, Ganges was not prepared to part with Lord Shiv, which
irritated him. He made TandavNrutya (dance) on the peak of Brahmagiri
and dashed his jata there. Frightened by this action, Ganges appeared on
Brahmagiri. Later on Ganges appeared in the Trimbak Tirtha. Gautama
praised her but she off and on appeared on the mountain at various
places and disappeared in anger. Gautama could not bathe in her waters.
Ganges then appeared in Gangadwar, Varaha-tirtha, Rama-Laxman tirtha,
Ganga Sagar tirtha. Still Gautama could not bathe in her waters. The
Gautama surrounded the river with enchanted grass and put a vow to her.
The flow stopped there and the tirtha thus came to be called Kushavarta.
It is from this Kushavarta that the river Godavari flows up to the sea.
The sin of killing a cow by Gautama was wiped off here.
This place is famous for lots of religious rituals (vidhis). Narayan Nagbali, Kalsarpa Shanti, Tripindi vidhi are done here. Narayan Nagbali puja is performed at Trimbakeshwar only. This puja is performed in three days. This puja is performed on special dates. Some days are not suitable to perform this puja. This puja is performed for many reasons like to cure an illness, going through bad times, killing a Cobra (Nag), childless couples, financial crisis or you want to perform some religious puja to have everything.
Trimbakeshwar town has a large number of Brahmin households and is also a centre for Vedic Gurukuls (kind of boarding school). It also has ashrams and Muths devoted to Ashtanga Yoga, the Hindu art of living.
The existing temple was built out of basalt after it was commissioned by Peshwa Nanasaheb. It so happens that the Peshwa made a bet on whether the stone surrounding the Jyotirlinga, is hollow from the inside or not. The stone was proved to be hollow, and on losing the bet, the Peshwa built a marvelous temple out of it. The Shiv deity of the temple consisted of the world-famous Nassak Diamond. It was looted by the British in The Third Anglo-Maratha War and lies with one owner or the other ever since. The diamond presently lies with Edward J. Hand, a trucking firm executive from Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
The place is known for its scenic beauty in rainy/monsoon season and is surrounded by lush green hills untouched by pollution. Anjaneri mountain, the birthplace of Lord Hanuman, is 7 km from Trimbakeshwar.
Kusavarta, a place where river Godavari takes course.
Majestic entrance to the temple.
Akhil Bhartiya Shree Swami Samarth Gurupeeth, Trimbakeshwar Temple of Shri Swami Samarth Maharaj. This temple is 1 km from Shiv Temple. This temple is marvelous example of Vastu Shastra .
SOURCES ; WIKIPEDIA
POSTED BY ; VIPUL KOUL
Kusavarta, a kunda (sacred pond) in the temple premises is the source of the Godavari River, the longest river in peninsular India. The current temple was built by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (Nanasaheb).
Architecture
The temple is located between three hills namely Brahmagiri, Nilagiri and Kalagiri. The temple has three lingams (an iconic form of Shiv) representing Shiv, Vishnu and Brahma. The temple tank is called Amritavarshini, which measured 28 m (92 ft) bu 30 m (98 ft). There are three other bodies of water, namely, Bilvatheertha, Viswananthirtha and Mukundathirtha. There are images of various deities, namely, Gangadevi, Jaleswara, Rameswara, Gautameswara, Kedarnatha, Rama, Krishna, Parasurama and Lakshmi Narayana. The temple has also several monasteries and samadhis of saints.Jyotirlinga
Triambakeshwar Temple, Nashi
Mythological History
close up of the top of Trimbakeshwar Temple
All other Jyotirlingas have Shiv as the main deity. The entire black stone temple is known for its appealing architecture and sculpture and is at the foothills of a mountain called Brahmagiri. Three sources of the Godavari originate from the Brahmagiri mountain.
Majestic entrance to the temple.
Kusavarta, a place where river Godavari takes course.
This place is famous for lots of religious rituals (vidhis). Narayan Nagbali, Kalsarpa Shanti, Tripindi vidhi are done here. Narayan Nagbali puja is performed at Trimbakeshwar only. This puja is performed in three days. This puja is performed on special dates. Some days are not suitable to perform this puja. This puja is performed for many reasons like to cure an illness, going through bad times, killing a Cobra (Nag), childless couples, financial crisis or you want to perform some religious puja to have everything.
Trimbakeshwar town has a large number of Brahmin households and is also a centre for Vedic Gurukuls (kind of boarding school). It also has ashrams and Muths devoted to Ashtanga Yoga, the Hindu art of living.
The existing temple was built out of basalt after it was commissioned by Peshwa Nanasaheb. It so happens that the Peshwa made a bet on whether the stone surrounding the Jyotirlinga, is hollow from the inside or not. The stone was proved to be hollow, and on losing the bet, the Peshwa built a marvelous temple out of it. The Shiv deity of the temple consisted of the world-famous Nassak Diamond. It was looted by the British in The Third Anglo-Maratha War and lies with one owner or the other ever since. The diamond presently lies with Edward J. Hand, a trucking firm executive from Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
The place is known for its scenic beauty in rainy/monsoon season and is surrounded by lush green hills untouched by pollution. Anjaneri mountain, the birthplace of Lord Hanuman, is 7 km from Trimbakeshwar.
Back view of Temple
References
Shri Nilambika/Dattatreya/Matamba Temple
This temple is on top of the Neel mountain. All goddesses ('Matamba', 'Renuka', 'Mananmba') came here to see 'Parashuram' when he was performing penance (tapas). After his penance he requested all goddesses to stay there and the temple was formed for these goddesses. God Dattatreya दत्तात्रेय (Shripad Shrivallabh) stayed here for some years, as well as neelkantheshwar mahadev ancient mandir is also situated right behind the Dattatrey temple & in the feet of this Neel parvat: Annapurna ashram, renuka devi, khandoba temples are also here.Akhil Bhartiya Shree Swami Samarth Gurupeeth, Trimbakeshwar Temple of Shri Swami Samarth Maharaj. This temple is 1 km from Shiv Temple. This temple is marvelous example of Vastu Shastra .
SOURCES ; WIKIPEDIA
POSTED BY ; VIPUL KOUL
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