At the foot of the Brahmagiri hill near Nashik, where the sacred Godavari — the Ganga of the South — takes its rise, Trimbakeshwar is revered among the twelve Jyotirlingas. It is distinguished by its lingam, which bears three faces representing Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, from which the name Trimbaka derives. Its legend, told in the Shiva Purana, is woven with that of the sage Gautama, whose prayers drew the Godavari down to the earth; Shiva, entreated to remain, abided here as the Jyotirlinga beside the river's source.
Trimbakeshwar is one of the great sites of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, held here every twelve years, and a principal place for ancestral rites — shraddha and pinda-dana — performed on the banks of the Godavari. The Brahmagiri hill above is itself circumambulated by pilgrims as a form of Shiva.
Where a holy river is born and three deities share a single sanctum, Trimbakeshwar draws devotees seeking both the blessings of the Lord and peace for their ancestors.
At Trimbakeshwar the lingam is not a pillar but a hollow, holding three small faces — Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva — and the Godavari rises from the hill above.
Source: Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust
