It is said that when the lord calls, you have to show up. A trip that was under planning for months was executed on a decision made overnight. Me and my friends have this new found desire to ensure we are able to complete all the 12 Shiva Jyotirlingas, and thus we started with the ones closest to drive.
So we decided to visit Trimbakeshwar Jyotirling Temple, which is located in Nashik District of Maharashtra. There are 3 different routes to drive from Mumbai to Trimbakeshwar, so we picked the best one suggested by google maps to avoid traffic. We started from home around 8:30am and we reached Trimbakeshwar around 12:30pm where we first had to pay the INR 50 cost of the vehicle entry fee within district before we could get to the parking space. The parking charges were additionally INR 100 and they seem to a pretty big space for parking. Do prefer to keep cash along as they are hesitant to take online payments and it is a task to convince them.
The temple is at a 5 minute walk from the parking spot, because beyond that only local and police vehicles are allowed. At the entry check point, there is a building on the left which allows you to buy a donation darshan pass which is INR 200 per person, and we did not take it to begin with because we assumed that there would be alternate entry without a cost. But we realized it eventually that entry without cost is only available for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening and since we had just reached at the peak of the afternoon, we had no choice but to go back to the counter that could help us with the pass, as the local entry was shut between 1pm to 5pm.
We happened to visit the donation stall at the other end of the lane where the pond called Tirtharaj Kushavarta is located for a quick dip. There was a line of about 15-20 people waiting to get through. There is a portal online available to get those passes but we were unable to get through the payment page, because network was not very great within the vicinity. So there are two stalls for buying these donation passes that are located at two ends from the entrance of the temple. They do take proof of identification and finger prints before providing the pass receipt physically. We spent about half an hour to figure out and get the passes so we could enter the temple space. It took us an hour to figure how to get inside the temple as we had to again come back to the very end to get the passes, as it is a nice long walk.
In the trail between the two ends, there are a lot of local vendors selling all kinds of things related to Shiva. We picked up some rudhraksh as they seem to peel them from the fruit in front of you and it is said, it is really on your thought as to which mukhi rudhraksh would you discover out of the fruit. I like picking souvenir from all places I visit, and this felt like the best way to remember the trip.
After we took our donation passes, we again went back to the center where they were allowing entry. I love immersive travel so there were a lot of these folks that were stamping the Shiva icons with sandalwood (chandan) to have a complete experience. I did not want to do it on the forehead like most of them, so I got made one on the hand. I took my share of flower offerings and we headed in the main gate not knowing what to expect. Once we entered, there was a whole chunk of barricades that we had to go through to be able to get to the temple. With the crazy amounts of rush, I guess this is the best way to handle the crowd. It took us about 2hrs, to get through the rounds of barricades and finally be able to get to the temple and we were only allowed to glimpse of the lord for 20 seconds. 10 points for the crowd management that they do for those many number of folks that visit daily for the lord.
So while you are allowed to only look at the Shivalinga for about 20 seconds, they do have some space behind where you can stand for a miniscule minute to finish your prayers. The beauty of this linga is that it is situated lower than the floor level, as it is three faced linga with Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh on each sides and thus to look at it, you got to take a peep in through the door that they have created where you also get to leave the flowers or offerings that you have brought along. Now I personally adhered to the rules and did not take any pictures inside of the temple, but the temple does have live darshan so I suppose you can check that. Thus they have very carefully placed a mirror diagonally above the linga where those standing afar can see its reflection in the mirror to finish their prayer and look at it with peace.
We barely spent less than 5 minutes within the space of the temple as they had to keep the crowd moving and thus we had to step out. This teaches a lesson of how you spend so much time preparing to do something and then suddenly all that experience of the moment is just done in 5 minutes. I did get a chance to admire the architecture outside, as the temple is so beautifully carved and so much detailing of the various deities associated to the story. There are various write ups about the significance of the black rock that the mountain has been carved out from depicting the cultures of those ages that it was constructed in.
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