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Trimbakeshwar Temple
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Trimbakeshwar - one of the holy places of not only Maharashtra but the whole India is near Nashik. Trimbakeshwar is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas in India. The following verse shall explain the importance of this sacred place and the next one gives names of the Twelve Jyotirlingas in India. 

This says that anybody who visits Tryambakeshwar attains salvation. There is no sacred place like Tryambakeshwar, 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. Nirnaya Sindhu - a religious book of Hindus, mentions that this place, where Sahyadri mountain and Godavari river exist is very purifying on the whole earth and is therefore very important for performing Shraddha ceremony. 

The two significant places 

a) Shri Trimbakeshwar Jyotirling and 

b) Kushavarta - the place from where river Godavari takes its course.  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.

About 38 kms away from Nashik Road Railway Station, it is connected by bus and taxi service. 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.

Story associated with Trimbakeshwar

At the time of the marriage of Lord Shiva with Parvati, all the Devarshis gathered together. Brahmadev, the creator of the Universe, seeing the beauty of Parvati, had a discharge of semen. Lord Shiva observing this, offered him water of Ganges, the purest water and said, “You will wipe off your sin by this water”. Brahmadev kept the holy water in his kamandalu (a particular container made out of dried fruit carried by Sadhus) and was purified by its bath. 

ith God Shankar, which was noticed by Lord Shiva’s wife Parvati. She planned to drive Ganges away from her husband. Parvati and her son Ganesh came to live in Gautama’s Ashrama with Parvati’s friend Jaya. There was a famine of 24 years and people were affected by the pangs of hunger. However, Varun - the God of Rains, pleased with Sage Gautama arranged rains every day  in Gautam’s Ashrama (dwelling place) which was in Trimbakeshwar. Gautama used to sow rice in the surrounding fields of his Ashrama in the morning, reap the crop in the afternoon and with it fed a large group of rishis, who took shelter in his Ashrama on account of the famine. The blessings of the group of rishis increased the merit (Punya) of Gautam. Lord Indra’s position became shaky  because of his increased merit. So Indra ordered clouds to rain all over Trimbakeshwar, so that the famine will be over and Rishis will go back and the increasing merits of Gautam will be weakened. Although the famine was over, Gautam urged the Rishis to stay back and kept on feeding them and gaining merit. Once he saw a cow grazing in the paddy field  and he drove her away by throwing Darbha (sharp, pointed grass). The slender cow died by this. It was Jaya - Parvati’s friend, who had taken the form of a cow. This news upset the Rishis and they refused to luncheon at his Ashram. Gautam requested Rishis to show a way out of this sin. He was advised to approach Lord Shiva and request him to release Ganges and a bath in the Ganges would set him free of his sins. Gautam then practiced penance by going to the peak of Brahmagiri. Lord Shankara was pleased by his worships and gave him the Ganges. However, Ganges was not prepared to part with Lord Shiva, which irritated him. He made Tandav Nrutya (dance) on the peak of Brahmagiri  and dashed his jata there. Frightened by this action, Ganges appeared on Brahmagiri. Later on Ganges appeared in the Trimbak Tirtha. Gautam praised her but she off and on appeared on the mountain at various places and disappeared in anger. Gautama could not bathe in her waters. Ganges then appeared in Gangadwar, Varaha-tirtha, Rama-Laxman tirtha, Ganga Sagar tirtha. Still Gautama could not bathe in her waters. The Gautama surrounded the river with enchanted  grass and put a vow to her.  The flow stopped there and the tirtha thus came to be called Kushavarta.  It is from this Kushavarta that the river Godavari flows up to the sea. The sin of killing a cow by Gautama was wiped off here.