Trekker’s delight 1 ~~~ Brahmagiri, Gangadwar & Gorakh Gumpha

Brahmagiri Mountain : is adjacent to Trimbakeshwar temple & is known for its scenic beauty in rainy/ monsoon season and is surrounded by lush green hills untouched by pollution. Anjaneri mountain, the birth place of Lord Hanuman is 7- 8 Km. from Triambakeshwar towards Nashik.

Original Ganges and Trimbak Tirtha are on Brahmagiri mountain. Brahmagiri is another manifestation of lord shiva, and is considered as a huge form of Lord Shiva and hence the mountain climbing was considered as a sin. As lord SHIVA adorns 'Ganga' river up on his head , there is stream of 'Ganga' on the top of this mountain.Moon is also seen on the top of this mountain .There are lots of auspicious 'tirthas' (lakes) on this mountain. There is a nice aerial view from the top of the mountain.

The most difficult point in the way where everyone needs power & support, & Lord Hanuman is there to support all :--------->

River Godavari flows in three different directions from the mountain. Eastern stream is called Godavari, Southern stream is known as Vaitarna & one flowing towards West (Western stream) is Ganga. These streams meets ( Godavari and Ganaga ) at Chakra Tirth.
<--Origion of Ganga Godavari @ BrahmaGiri
The first peak of Sahyadri is called Brahmadri. The story associated with this is that Shankar was pleased with Brahmadev and said “I shall be known by your name”. Hence it is called as Brahmagiri. The mountain is 1800 feet high. Its height from sea level is 4248 feet. Five peaks of this mountain are called Sadyo-Jata, Vamdev, Aghora, Ishana and Tat-Purusha
and are considered as five mouths of the Lord Shiva and they are worshipped. There are 2 doors to go on the top of the mountain one is at south and other is at North. This mountain is surrounded by 10 mile radius at bottom level and 4 mile at peak level.
Linga inside the Holy shrine @ top of Brahmagiri hill, best for Kalsarpa Shanti & Narayan NagBali puja :-->


<--Origion of Ganga Godavari from the hill



Origin of Ganga Godavari from Shiv Jata--->



Gangadwar : Gangadwar is half way to Brahmagiri mountain. There is a temple of Ganga, now known as Godavari River.

Ganga appears first time here,after it vanishes from Brahmagiri Mountain. Godavari comes to Gangadwar from Brahmadri. There are 750 steps to Gangadwar.

Gangadwar is one of the five tirthas.There is an idol of Ganga and near her feet is a stone of the shape of cow's head through which Ganga water is flowing drop by drop.

Aerial view from Gangadwar & way to Gangadwar


Gorakh Gumpha : a place where Gorakhnath practiced penance,the idol is worth seeing. Guru GahiniNath preached NivrthiNath about the sacred spiritual knowledge at this place. There is a Ram-Laxman 'thirtha' in this cave.

PS: Photography is not allowed in Gorakh Gumpha (below are rare snaps)

Gautam Gumpha : Nearby is Kolambika Devi, Varah tirtha further on is the cave of Gautam for practicing penance where there are 108 Shivalingas(Pindi) symbol of lord Shiva.

way to Gorakh gumpha & Gautam gumpha-->

Shri Nilambika/Dattatrya Temple : This temple is on top of the Neel mountain. All goddess ('Matamba', 'Renuka', 'Mananmba') came here to see 'Parashuram' when he was performing his pray.After his pray he requested all goddess to stay here and this temple is formed for these goddess. There are myths about God Dattatrya was born here also.

Ahilya sangam : River Ahilya meets Godavari in front of the Trimbakeshwar temple. It is always considered as auspicious place when 2 rivers meets.Childless families worship at the Ahilya sangam and it is believed that they do get a child. Here usually priest performs "Nag bali" Ceremony.There is a temple of Sangmeshwar Mahadev.

Pilgrim’s Paradise 1 ~~~ TRIMBAKESHWAR Jyotirlinga

Trimbakeshwar : – One of the twelve Jyotirlingas in world, is a holy place in the town of Trimbak in the Nasik district of Maharashtra in India, 30 kms from the city Nasik.


This says that anybody who visits Trimbakeshwar attains salvation. There is no sacred place like Trimbakeshwar, no river like Godavari, no mountain like Brahmagiri etc. The reasons for its being so sacred are - Godavari river originates in this place, its a place of Tri-Sandhya Gayatri, the birth place of Lord Ganesha, a place of the first Nath of Nath Sampradaya consisting of Gorakhnath and others, a place where Nivrittinath was made to imbibe the holy knowledge by his Guru Gahininath, a place where Nivrittinath made his brothers and sister attain the self by his preaching. This is the holiest place to perform Shraddha ceremony.

The Goddess in this temple is called Trimbakeshwari. Trimbakeshwar Temple is the only place where Shivlinga is not out but it’s inside the floor. Hindus believe that Trimbak Jyotirlinga is one, which fulfills everyone’s desires. It emancipates all from their sins and miseries.

Some scholars say that Goddess Parvati also came down along Lord Shiva and Ganga. The place is therefore called Tryambakeshwar (three lords). Others believe that the place is so called because of the presence of three Shivlinga of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. The Shivlinga of Lord Mahesh has always-flowing water among the three Shivlingas.

Ganpti Inside the Temple :
The extraordinary feature of this Jyotirlinga is that it has three faces embodying Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu & Lord Mahesh(Shiva). All other JYOTIRLINGA have Shiva as the main deity. The entire temple is made up of black stone & is surrounded by a massive stone wall & adorned with many sculptures, is located at the foothills of a mountain called Brahmagiri. Godavari River originates on Bramhagiri mountain and meets to the sea near Raj Mahendri, AP.

Very nearer to the temple, Papaharini Theertam is located. People take bath here before visiting the temple which is considered as a holy bath. This place is formed by river Godavari after falling from Brahmagiri.

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 Triyambakeshwar 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.
The Lord Shiva at Trimbakeshwar is worshipped by recitations of Rudra, Rudri, Laghu Rudra, Maha Rudra or Ati Rudra puja. Actually Rudrashak is a religious fruit which is said to be found in lord Shiva's neck in the form of Rudra garland. Some of the trees of Rudrashak is also found in Trimbakeshwar.

The Holy Trishul( Symbol Of Shakti) inside the holy shrine : The temple premesis is called Brahmagiri, one of the most sacred place of river Godavari (Brahma Sthalam). The Sun, Moon and Agni form the three eyes located at different direction on this Jyotirlinga. Inside the main linga, there are three more lingas visible, of the size of the thumb & they are called as Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara - the Creator, the Organizer & the Destroyer.These lingas are natural ( emerged naturally ). Water of Ganges flows over the Linga of Shiva. Usually, the Shivalingam is covered with a silver mask but on festive occasions a golden mask with five faces, each with a golden crown covers it.The deity is worshipped here thrice a day and an additional worship with flowers at pradosha time. There is a belief that, anybody who performs puja for this Jyothirlinga, is considered as actually worshipping all these three Gods.


Kushavarta (Teertharaj) : the place from where river Godavari takes its course, has six corners. Just as Ganga is known as Bhagirathi and is one of the most important river in North India, in the same way, Godavari is also known as Gautami Ganga and is the most sacred river in South India.A dip in this sacred river wipes off the sins, is the belief of people. The sage Gautam committed a sin of murdering a cow and by taking bath in this river, wiped off his sin.

Religious significance of Godavari:
A shraddha on the river Godavari gives great satisfaction to the forefathers. If it is not done in this place, it is considered as a religious sin. So Ganga Pujan, Ganga Bhet, Deh Shuddhi, Prayaschitta, Tarpan Shradha, Vayan, Dasha Dana, Gopradan etc. Rituals are done in Trimbakeshwar. Mundana and Tirtha Shraddha are also performed here.

After finishing the tirtha-yatra at Kushavarta, a pilgrim should proceed by the northern bank of Godavari and visit Nilsangameshwar, Vivah Vinayak, Satya Narayan, Dhaneshwar Mahadev, Tarangeshwar, Setupaleshwar etc.

Religious festivals at Trimbakeshwar :
1. Sinhastha Kumbha Mela - Once in twelve years when Bruhaspati (Jupiter) is in Sinha Rashi (zodiac sign Leo)
2. Godavari day - In the month of Magha (February) - the first twelve days of bright moon.
3. Nivrutti Natha festival - three days in Pausha - sometime in January.
4. Rathayatra of Trimbakeshwar - On the full moon day of the month Kartika , called Tripuri Paurnima- sometime in November.
5. Mahashivaratri - on the 13th day of Krishna paksha of the month Magha - some time in March.


Getting there :
1 By Air : Nearest International Airport is Bombay (Mumbai) which is around 200 KM from Trimbakeshwar.Nearest Domestic Airport is Nashik road which is 40 KMs.You can get the cabs/taxi for trimbakeshwar from Nashik road Airport as well from Bombay international Airport.

2 By Railways : Nearest Railway station to Trimbakeshwar city is Nashik Road around 45 KM away. From there one can take City Buses to come to CBS (Central Bus Stand) from where buses (State Transport ) goes to different part of the country. There are buses to trimbakeshwar city every 30 minutes. You can get the cabs for Trimbakeshwar from Nashik road railway station.

3 By Road : The journey from Nashik to Trimbakeshwar is through forest.State Transport buses is the best source to reach to Trimbakeshwar. From all over the (Maharashtra) state buses comes to Trimbakeshwar .
Bombay - Trimbakeshwar 180 kms.
Nashik - Trimbakeshwar 28 kms.
State Transport (ST) buses ply between Nashik - Trimbakeshwar frequently.

Accommodation :
People can stay here for one whole day and have to reach back Nashik for staying.
There are modern Dharmashalas (caravansary) built by charitable Gujarathi Community available for stay for three days to any individual. The stay can be extended by written permission of the trustees. Besides, there are big houses of Kshetropadhyes (the local priests), where lodging and boarding is made available.
Self contained rooms (11 Blocks), Dormitories (2 Blocks - 20 beds) & tents.
Checkout Time : 12.00 noon.

A few good quality hotels (ranges between rupees 700 - 1200 per night stay) are also available in Nasik, buts its better to do advance booking because of heavy rush during festive seasons.

PS: Photography is not allowed inside the main temple.