Ghosha and Ghosharkakuṇḍa at Ayodhyā

Ghosha was a king of the solar dynasty who ruled the whole earth. He carried a hidden suffering: worms and open sores on his hands. One day, while hunting, he found a lake and bathed in it. He was healed at once. He praised Bhagavān Sūrya, who appeared and gave him a vara (a boon). The place became the tīrtha (sacred bathing place) called Ghosharkakuṇḍa. The name joins the king’s name, Ghosha, with Arka, a name of Sūrya. This account is from the Ayodhyā Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa.

The king’s suffering

Ghosha was the only emperor of the whole earth. His fame lit up the three worlds, and his courage made him look like a second Sun. But he bore a hidden burden. His hands were full of worms and open sores. The Māhātmya traces this to the karma of his past births. The king bore it without pride and without complaint.

The hunt and the lake

One day Ghosha left the kingdom with his ministers and went alone into the thick forest to hunt. He wandered through the undergrowth, killing deer, boars and lions. At last his body was tired out and he was dry with thirst.

Then a lake appeared before him, beautiful and calm. On its banks ṛshis were saying their Sandhyā prayers and taking their holy bath in its water.

Ghosha went up to it and did ācamana (the ritual sip of water). Then he went down into the lake to bathe. At that moment:

He took a divine body. His mind was filled with joy and free from every stain.

The worms and the open sores were gone. The body that came up out of the water was bright and clean. He asked the ṛshis on the bank what this place was, and they told him it was a tīrtha. The king understood that something great had happened.

The stotra to Sūrya

Full of wonder and thanks, and moved by the holiness of the place, Ghosha sang a stotra (hymn of praise) to Bhagavān Sūrya. He praised him in these ways:

the master of the chiefs of the devas
the master in the form of pure awareness
Savitṛ and Vivasvān
the home of radiance
the master who is one with the three Vedas
the master who knows Yoga
the great remover of the darkness of the three worlds
the form of perfect knowledge
the master of yajña
the destroyer of disease
the one who makes the lotuses glad
the one who always makes the worlds bright

Sūrya appears and gives the vara

While the king sang, Bhagavān Sūrya, the lord of his dynasty, was very pleased. He appeared before Ghosha in person and said:

“O great king, choose a vara. I am pleased with you. Here I am in front of you.”

Ghosha’s vara came from pure devotion. He asked that a mūrti of Bhagavān Sūrya, carrying the joint name of the deva and the king, should stand at this spot for ever. Bhagavān Sūrya agreed:

“Let it be so, O lord of men. Your wish is a lovely one. I will be pleased with those men who read this prayer that you composed and recited. O king, I shall give them all that they wish for. This holy spot will become very famous in the world by your name.”

Ghosha then set up a mūrti of Bhagavān Sūrya that had come out of the sun’s disc itself, a form that appeared by its own power. He worshipped it with great respect. The tīrtha became known as Ghosharkakuṇḍa, from Ghosha and Arka (the Sun).

The merit of Ghosharkakuṇḍa

This tīrtha is especially good for people with skin disease, open sores, wounds, leprosy, poverty and misery. A bath at Ghosharkakuṇḍa is advised at these times:

on Sundays, the day of the Sun
on the sixth day of the bright half of Bhādrapada or Māgha, to reach the world of Sūrya
on the seventh day when it falls on a Sunday, which is held to be very full of puṇya (merit)
through the whole month of Pausha, above all on its Sundays

Those who bathe at Ghosharkakuṇḍa live in the world of Sūrya.

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Ayodhyā Māhātmya, Chapter 7