Bhimashankar Temple – Legends
Jyotirlinga:
According to Shiva
Mahapuraan, Brahma (The Creator) and Vishnu (The
Preserver) once had a disagreement about which of them was supreme. To
test them, Shiva pierced
the three worlds as an immeasurable pillar of light, the Jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma parted
company to determine the extent of each end of the pillar. Brahma,
who had set off upward, lied that he had discovered the upper end of the
pillar, but Vishnu,
who had gone in the direction of the base of the pillar, admitted that he had
not. Shiva then
appeared as a second Jyotirlinga and cursed Brahma,
telling him that he would have no place in the ceremonies, though Vishnu would
be worshipped until the 'end of eternity'.
The Jyotirlinga is
the supreme indivisible reality from which Shiva appears.
jyotirlinga shrines commemorate this time when Shiva appeared. It
was believed that there were originally sixty-four Jyothirlingas. Twelve are
considered to be especially auspicious and holy. Each of the twelve sites takes
the name of the presiding deity and each is considered a separate manifestation
of Shiva. At
all these sites, the primary deity is a lingam
representing the beginning less and endless Stambha pillar,
symbolizing the Shiva's infinite nature.
The twelve jyotirlingas are;
·
Somnath in Gujarat,
·
Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra
Pradesh,
·
Mahakaleswar at Ujjain
in Madhya Pradesh,
·
Omkareshwar in Madhya
Pradesh,
·
Kedarnath in
Uttarakhand,
·
Bhimashankar in Maharashtra,
·
Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar
Pradesh,
·
Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra,
·
Vaidyanath at Deoghar in Jharkhand,
·
Nageshvara
Jyotirlinga,
·
Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil
Nadu,
·
Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
Annihilation
of Demon, Bhima:
Long ago, in the dense forests of Dakini, on the lofty
ranges of the Sahyadri, there lived
an evil Asura by the name Bhima with his mother Karkati. The divine and the
mortals were scared of him alike. But he was confronted by certain questions
about his own existence which continuously tormented him. When Bhima could no longer
sustain his agony and curiosity, he asked his mother to unveil the mysteries of
his life. He urged his mother to tell him who his father was and why he had
abandoned them in the wilderness of the forest.
After much hesitation and with a lingering fear Karkati,
his mother revealed to him that he was the son of the mighty Kumbhakarna, the
younger brother of the Lankadhishwar, the mighty King Ravana of Lanka. Lord
Vishnu in his incarnation as Lord Rama annihilated Kumbhakarna. Karkati told Bhima, that her husband and his father was killed by Ram in
the great war. This infuriated Bhima and he vowed to take revenge against Lord
Vishnu. To achieve this, he embarked on a severe penance to please Lord Brahma.
The compassionate creator was pleased by the dedicated
devotee and granted him immense powers. This was a terrible mistake by Brahma.
The evil tyrant caused havoc in all the three worlds. He defeated King Indra
and conquered the heavens. He also defeated a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva - Kamaroopeshwar
and put him in the dungeons. He started torturing Rishis and Sadhus. All this
angered the Gods. All the Devas,
along with Lord Brahma, went to Lord Shiva to come to their rescue.
Lord Shiva consoled the Gods and agreed to rescue them
from the tyrant. On the other hand, Bhima insists and
orders Kamaroopeshwar to worship him instead of Lord Shiva. When Kamaroopeshwar
did not do that and refused to do pooja to him, the tyrant Bhima raised his
sword to strike the Shiva Linga, to which Kamaroopeshwar was doing abhishekam
and pooja. As soon as Bhima managed to raise his sword, Lord Shiva appeared
before him in all his magnificence. Then a terrible war began.
Then, the holy sage Narada appeared and requested Lord
Shiva to put an end to this war. It was then that Lord Shiva reduced the evil
demon to ashes and thus concluded the saga of tyranny. All the Gods and the
holy sages present there requested Lord Shiva to make this place his abode.
Lord Shiva thus manifested himself in the form of the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga. It is believed that the sweat
that poured forth from Lord Shiva's body after the battle formed the Bhimarathi River.
Tripuranthaka:
This temple is closely associated with the legend of
Shiva slaying the demon Tripurasura associated with the invincible flying
citadels, the "Tripuras". Shiva is said to have made this his abode
in the Bhimashankar
form, upon the request of the Gods, on the crest of the Sahyadri hills, and the
sweat that poured forth from his body after the battle is said to have formed
the Bhimarathi
river.
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