Tryambakeshwar Temple (Maharashtra)

Of the twelve JyotirLingas of Lord Shankara, the tenth one is known as Tryambakeshwara. Tryambak is near at a distance of about 30 km from Nasik in Maharashtra. In that hole there are three Lingas shaped like the Thumbs. Hence Tryambakeshwara. Of these three Lingas, the Linga of Mahesha has a constant shower of water from an orifice above. It is a natural source of water coming down as Abhisheka for the Lord.

Image credit : Vivekanand Tryambake

Tryambakeshwar – the birth place of river Godavari. Legend has it that sage Gowtama resided on the Brahmagiri hill here with his wife Ahalya, and seeing his unflinching devotion received a boon from Varuna – a bottomless pit from which he received an inexhaustible supply of foodgrains. This of course enraged other sages who conspired for a cow to enter his granary, and caused it to die as Gowtama attempted to ward it off with a bunch of Darbha grass. Because of this misfortune Gowtama therefore worshipped Shiva, to invoke the Goddess Ganga down to his hermitage to purify the premises. Ganga came down as Godavari, and Shiva took up an abode here in the form of Tryambaka. Interestingly, locals refer to the river here as Ganga and not as Godavari. All the heavenly Gods promised to come down to Nasik, once in twelve years, when Jupiter  resides in the zodiac sign of Leo.

Image credit : Vivekanand Tryambake

The Linga in the temple is in the form of a three faced structure consisting Tridev, Brahma, Vishu and Shiva. The legend has it that Brahma and Vishnu searched in vain to discover the origin of Shiva who manifested himself as a cosmic column of fire. Brahma lied that he had seen the top of the column of fire, and was hence cursed that he would not be worshipped on earth. In turn Brahma cursed Shiva that he would be pushed underground. Accordingly, Shiva came down under the Brahmagiri hill in the form of Tryambakeshwar. The shrine enjoyed the patronage of the Peshwas.

Image credit : Puru2k2

Kolhambika is a temple dedicated to Parvati, where she is believed to have slain the demon Kolhasura who had swallowed the Ganga river. Also here is the Ganga Devi temple enshrining a white marble image of Ganga. This temple was built in 1879. Other shrines here include those to Kedarnath, Rameshwar, Gowtameshwar, Kashi Vishwanath, Jareshwar, Kanchaneshwar, Tribhuvaneshwar, Rama, Parasurama, Krishna, Balaji, Lakshmi Narayan and Hanuman.

Image credit : atanu.maity

Three worship services are carried out each day. During the nightly worship service sheja-aarti is carried out and the silver mask is placed in a bed in the hall of mirrors. Each Monday, the silver mask of Tryambaka is placed in a palanquin and taken in procession to Kushavarta theertha and given an abhisheka there. This procession with the special golden mask,  happens also on Shiv ratris, full moon day in the month of Kartika and during other festive occasions. Simhasta Parvani which occurs once in every 12 years, when Jupiter enters the zodiac sign of Leo, is a time of great festivity when it is believed that all sacred waters gather in the Kushavarta thirtha. The Ganga avatarana festival is celebrated in the month of Magha.

Grishneswar Temple (MAHARASHTRA)

Grishneshwar is an ancient pilgrimage site revered as the abode of one of the 12 Jyotirlingas  of Shiva.

Image credit : chandranaryana

Grishneshwar is also known as Kusumeswar, Ghushmeswara, or Grushmeswara, all of the names are related legendary stories of the origin of  one of the 12 jyotirlingas Grishneshwar Mahadev. It is located at a distance of 11 km from Daulatabad near Aurangabad  in Maharashtra. Daulatabad was once known as Devagiri. Located nearby are the popular tourist attractions Ellora – featuring ancient rock cut monuments from the 1st millennnium CE, and Ajanta known for its exquisite cave paintings again from the 1st millennium CE. Maha Shivaratri is a very important religious festival here. During this festival period, thousands of devotees throng to this temple town.

Image credit : a_kamesh

There are many legends about Grishneshwar. There has to be legend associated with every temple. This one too is no exception. There was once a devout woman Kusuma who was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and she regularly immersed a Shivalingam in a tank, as a part of her daily ritual worship. Her husband’s first wife, envious of her piety and standing in society murdered Kusuma’s son in cold blood. An aggrieved Kusuma continued her ritual worship, and when she immersed the Shivalingam again in the tank, her son was miraculously restored to life. Shiva is said to have appeared in front of her and the villagers, and ever since then the shivalingam here has been worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlinga Ghusmeshwar.

Image credit : siddhrth tiwari

The village offers serene atmosphere for empowering the mind through the visit of holiest Jyotirlinga. The present village offers many accommodation facilities to the enthusiastic pilgrims for a hassle free temple visit. The village was once ruled by renowned Ahalyabhai Holkar, who ruled Indore during 1765 to 1795. She had built the Grishneshwar temple along with the reconstruction of Vishnu Pada temple at Gaya and Kashi Vishwanatha temple at Varanasi.