Bhimashankar Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, is located near the small village Bhorgiri on the banks of the Chandrabhaga Bhima River in Pune district, Maharashtra, India. Bhimashankar temple is surrounded by dense forest, river, mountain and lake. This place attracts pilgrims as well as nature lovers. Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga Temple is the sixth Jyotirlinga out of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. On the auspicious days of Sawan month, Mahashivratri, Kartik Purnima, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, huge crowds of devotees gather here. Sawan is one of the major festivals celebrated in the Bhimashankar temple.
Bhimeshwar Jyotirlinga Mythology
There is an interesting story behind the Jyotirlinga temples, according to Shiva Purana, once there is a dispute between Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu about what is important. In order to prove supremacy about supremacy, both go to Lord Shiva, then Lord Shiva took the form of an infinite pillar of light and both asked the Lord to find its beginning and end. But both Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma could not find that place. So this Jyotirlinga is the place of Lord Shiva where he appeared as a pillar of light.
It is believed that the original temple of Bhimashankar was built in the 12th century and then renovated from time to time. The sanctum sanctorum and shikara of the present temple were combined in the Nagara or Indo-Aryan style with the influence of the architectural styles of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The outer walls of the sanctum depict scenes from the Ramayana, Krishna Leela, Shiva Leela and Dashavatara.
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There are many holy places located around Bhimashankar where some of the important ones are Sarvatirtha, Hanuman Lake, Jnanatirtha, Moksha Teerth, Gyankund, Gupt Bhumeshwar, Papmochan Teerth, Krida Teerth, Bhima Udgam Teerth, Kamalja Mata Temple, Bhasha Teerth etc.
Many stories are associated with Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga. Some of the main stories are mentioned here.
The son of Ravana's younger brother Kumbhakarna lived with his mother Karkati in Dakini, a dense forest on the ranges of the Sahyadri hills. Once he came to know about his father from his mother and how Lord Sri Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, killed Kumbhakarna, he decided to take revenge and did severe penance to please Lord Brahma. The demon Bhima got the blessings of superpower from Lord Brahma and started using his power on sages, gods, people etc. Once, Bhima had imprisoned Lord Shiva's true devotee Kamrupeshwar and ordered him to worship him in the place of Lord Shiva. When Kamrupeshwar refused to do so, Bhima raised his sword at the Shivling. Then Lord Shiva appeared from the Shivling and burnt him. This is the place where the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga is where Lord Shiva appeared and freed everyone from the torture of the demon Bhima.
Bhimeshwar Jyotirlinga Significance
According to some other mythology, a demon named Tripurasura performed severe penance in the Bhimashankar forest to please Lord Shiva and ask him for the boon of immortality. Lord Shiva was pleased with his penance and granted him immortality on one condition that he has to use this superpower only for helping people. Tripurasura agreed to this condition but over time started torturing the people and the God here with his power. Then to stop his evil deed, Lord Shiva and his consort Goddess Parvati both appeared as Ardhanari Nateshwar and killed Tripurasura on Kartik Purnima, which is known as "Tripurari Poornima".
