Rishiyan Ashram, Barha Kotra – Legends

Rishiyan Ashram, Barha Kotra – Legends

Ashram of Sage Durvasa:

As per legend, Sage Durvasa had an ashram at this place on the banks of Yamuna river and the palace of King Ambarisha was located on the other bank of the river. Ambarisha was an Ikshvaku king and the son of Mandhata. He is believed to have conquered the whole world in a week. He lived during the Treta Yuga. He was a great devotee of Vishnu and adhered firmly to the truth.

Being pleased with his devotion, Vishnu had given his Sudarshana Chakra to Ambarisha, who worshiped the deity's weapon with great devotion. Once, during Vaikuntha Ekadashi, Ambarisha performed the Dvadashi Vrata at his palace, which required that the king must start a fast on Ekadashi and break it at the start of Dwadasi (the twelfth day) and feed all his people.

As the moment of breaking the fast was drawing near, the sage Durvasa arrived and was received with all honours by Ambarisha. Durvasa agreed to the king's request to be his honoured guest and asked the king to wait until he finished his bath in the Yamuna river and returned. As the auspicious moment approached when the king had to break his fast to fulfill the vow of the vrata, Durvasa did not turn up.

On the advice of his priests, the king broke his fast by taking a little water and waited for the arrival of sage Durvasa to offer him food. Durvasa, who was well known for his short temper, felt that Ambarisha had violated the respect due to a guest by breaking his fast before the guest had taken his meal, and in his rage created an asura to kill Ambarisha, out of a strand of his hair.

As Ambarisha was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, the Sudarshana Chakra intervened, destroyed the asura, and started chasing Durvasa himself. Durvasa went to Brahma and Shiva for protection. Both pleaded their inability to save him. He went to Vishnu himself, who said that he could do nothing as he was bound by the faultless devotion of Ambarisha and suggested to the sage to seek the pardon of the king.

Durvasa went to Ambarisha, who prayed to Vishnu to recall his discus, and saved Durvasa. Thus, Durvasa's life was spared. Later, the ashram of Durvasa was lost completely. The ashram was rebuilt by Tridandi Swami Shrimad Bhakti Vedanta Goswami. Presently, Sant Ras Bihari Das is looking after the ashram.

Lord Shiva visit to this place daily for Banasura’s mother:

As per legend, this place served as the capital of the demon king Banasur during the Mahabharata period. The mother of Banasur was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and used to visit Mount Kailash every day to worship Lord Shiva. When she became old, she was not able to visit Kailash. She felt bad about her inability to worship Lord Shiva. Seeing the plight of her mother, Banasur performed intense penance on Lord Shiva and made Lord Shiva himself to come to this place and provide darshan to his mother.

Lord Rama stay at this place:

As per legend, Lord Rama along with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman stayed here for night during his journey to Chitrakoot. During his stay, he installed a Shiva Linga and worshipped Lord here. He also got the blessings of the sages here.

Rishiyan Ashram:

As per legend, 84 thousand sages performed penance at this place. Hence, the place came to be called as Rishiyan Ashram.