Saiva · Nashik, Maharashtra
Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga
Trimbakeshwar (Jyotirlinga), three faces in one linga, at the Godavari’s source
Sarpa and Kala sarpaRahu and KetuPitru and ancestorsNavagraha
The temple in short
- Deity
- Trimbakeshwar (Jyotirlinga), three faces in one linga, at the Godavari’s source
- Where
- Nashik, Maharashtra · 19.93N 73.53E
- Usual hours
- 5 am – 1 pm, 4 pm – 9 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?
- Grahas
- Rahu Ketu Sani
- Visited for
- The one place where Narayan Nagbali, Kaal Sarp Shanti, Tripindi Shraddha and Pitru Dosh Nivaran are all performed, over three days. The classic North Indian parihaaram for Kala sarpa.
The sthala purana
Tradition, as it is told at the temple
The sthala purana has it that Gautama Rishi was tricked into what looked like the killing of a cow, and that to be free of it he asked Sivan for the Ganga to come to this place.
The river is said to have come down on Brahmagiri, the hill above the temple, and that stream is the Godavari. The Kushavarta kund in the town is taken as its source, and the bath there is part of the visit.
The linga is not a single shaft. Inside a hollow in the stone are three small faces taken for Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, which is where the name Tryambaka comes from, and they are looked down at rather than looked up to.
What is recorded
Documented history
Trimbakeshwar is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. The temple standing today is eighteenth-century Peshwa work in black basalt, in the Nagara style rather than the Dravidian.
It is the recognised place for Narayan Nagbali, Kaal Sarp Shanti, Tripindi Shraddha and Pitru Dosh Nivaran. These are performed over one to three days by priests of the town, booked in advance, and are the reason most families from the south come here rather than for the Jyotirlinga alone.
The Simhastha Kumbh Mela is held at Nashik and Trimbakeshwar together once in twelve years.
What there is to see
Description
The temple is compact and squarely built, with carved outer walls and a stone shikhara, set in a walled court in the middle of the town.
The linga is in a depression in the floor of the sanctum and is seen by leaning over it; it is covered with a silver mask at certain hours.
The Kushavarta kund is a stepped tank a short walk away. Brahmagiri hill is climbed by a long flight of steps and takes most of a morning.
The temple year
The days it is fullest
Maha Shivaratri and the Mondays of Shravan are the largest religious days, and the Simhastha Kumbh is on a different scale again.
The Narayan Nagbali and Kaal Sarp poojas run all through the year, except on the days the almanac excludes, and the town’s guesthouses are full of families in the middle of a three-day observance.
Getting there, and what else it is called
- Also called
- Tryambakeshwar Jyotirlinga, Trimbak
- Period
- Rebuilt in the eighteenth century under the Peshwas
- Reaching it
- Trimbak is about 28 km west of Nashik on the road towards the ghats. Nashik Road is the nearest railway station, and buses and shared taxis run from Nashik through the day.
Where it is
Others within reach
Nearest first, by straight-line distance
Add what you know
Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.
- Were the hours right when you went?
- Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
- A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board
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Parihaaram is traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind; it is not a guaranteed cure of any condition. Temple hours change with festivals and the season, so check before travelling.