Tryambakeshvar

Temple and sacred site (tirtha) in the
village of Trimbak in the Nasik district
of the state of Maharashtra, at the headwaters of the Godavari River. The temple is named for its presiding deity, the
god Shiva in his manifestation as the
“Three-Eyed Lord.” Shiva is present at
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Tryambakeshvar
Tryambakeshvar in the form of a linga,
the pillar-shaped image that is his symbolic form. The Tryambakeshvar linga is
one of the twelve jyotirlingas, a network
of sites deemed especially sacred to
Shiva and at which Shiva is uniquely
present. The charter myth for
Tryambakeshvar begins with the sage
Gautama, who unwisely hits an old cow
with a stick, killing it, and thus incurs
the sin of cow slaughter. Gautama is told
that to expiate his sin, he first has to
amass enough merit to bring the Ganges
down to earth, and after he has purified
himself by bathing (snana) in the
Ganges, he has to make and worship 10
million Shiva lingas formed from the
sand on its banks. Gautama undertakes
his penance (prayashchitta) diligently.
Upon worshiping the 10 millionth linga
he is rewarded by a vision of Shiva, who
grants his wish that both the Ganges and
Shiva will remain there forever—the former in her form as the Godavari, the latter as Tryambakeshvar.