Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh are the three pillars of Hindu religion with the power of which this entire world runs. Brahma who is the creator of universe, Vishnu who is the sustained of the world and Mahesh who can finish everything. In our Purana, this confluence of Trinity is considered very sacred and the symbol of this purity is a unique temple situated on the banks of Godavari river in Maharashtra. A temple where   the big secret is that, the Shivalinga here is not above the ground but inside the ground. A unique temple where a special puja is performed to provide peace to the souls of those who died suddenly due to some accident or any snake suddenly killed. This puja mention in Garuda Purana is Narayan Nag bali puja and that temple is Trimbakeshwar Mahadev Jyotirlinga.

 Centuries ago, there was an Ashram situated in the middle of Brahmagiri mountain where many Rishi lived. Once there was a severe famine and every living being started yearning for every drop of water. Being saddened by this pain, Gautam Rishi worshiped Varundev, the god of water, pleased with his penance Varundev gifted him a pond in which water never ran out. Gautam Rishi started using the water of this pond to help all the living beings but as the fame of this pond and Gautam Rishi started increasing, the other Rishi of the Ashram started becoming jealous of this and they decided to look down upon Gautam Rishi, to do this they worshipped  Lord Ganesh. When Lord Ganesh appeared they expressed their desire to humiliate Gautam Rishi, on this Lord Ganesh tried very hard to explain to them that Gautam Rishi is just performing his duty but still, when all the rishi did not agree, Ganesh was forced to take the form of a weak cow and  went to Rishi Gautam after seeing the condition of mother cow, Rishi Gautam gave her fodder but as soon as the cow bit the fodder she died. As soon as this accident happened, all the Rishis came out and accused Rishi Gautam of cow slaughter. All the Rishis together threw stones at Rishi Gautam and Devi Ahaliya and forced them to leave the Ashram.

 Rishi Gautam became very sad due to this accident and to atone for his sin, he got absorbed in the penance of Lord Shiva, Finally Lord Shiva appeared and he expressed his wish to Mahadev to be freed from the sin of cow slaughter. Lord Shiva already knew everything and he told Rishi Gautam all this was a trick of other Rishis but instead of getting angry, Rishi Gautam became happy because due to this trick he got the Darshan of Mahadev. And then Rishi Gautam prayed to Lord Shiva on his own behalf for the salvation of the entire earth, that he should manifest Goddess Ganga on earth. On the order of Lord shiva, Goddess Ganga appeared and freed Rishi Gautam from all his sins but she refused to stay on the earth, Goddess Ganga said she used to live the same place where Lord Shiva use to live and that’s is why Gautam Rishi prayed to Lord Shiva to stay with Goddess Ganga, Lord shiva decided to reside on earth and as well as Goddess Ganga resided on earth and this is how Trimbakeshwar temple was born where Lord Shiva’s Jyotir Linga  is established on the bank of South Ganga i.e. Godavari

Every year lakhs of devotees come here to get salvation from their sins. Being one of the 12 Jyotir Linga, this temple is an important pilgrimage place in the Hindu Religion, But the most special thing about this temple is the Shiva Linga installed in it. The base unique Shiva Linga in Timbakeshwar temple is the only shiva Linga in the world which is installed in a small cavity inside the ground and not above the ground. There is a hollow place in the middle of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple where there are three small shiva Lingas and each Shiva Linga is a form of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and that’s why the name of this Shiv Linga is Trimbakeshwar. Trimbak means the symbol of the confluence of three Gods i.e. Trinity, not only this some kind of symbolism is associated with this Shiva Linga. The three eyes of Shiva Linga symbolise Sun, Moon and Fire. And the worship of Shiva Linga is not just a deity but the worship of three Gods together i.e. Trinity. It is believed that whoever comes to this temple get freed from the cycle of this world with the blessings of trinity and he attains salvation. It was believed that when Goddess Ganga appeared here, her flow became so strong that no one could pass her hence Rishi Gautam planted a grass named Kusha on the banks of the river to slow down her flow a little. This place is known as Kushavarta kund which is the symbol of South Ganga i.e. Godavari in this temple. After taking a bath once in the water of Kushavarta kund, all the bad deeds of a person are washed away.