Āditya Tīrtha (Gautamī)
Āditya Tīrtha · āditya-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Sūrya”
Devala has other meanings too: see all meanings of Devala.
Āditya Tīrtha is a tīrtha near the place where the Gautamī Gaṅgā meets the eastern sea, just beyond the Āgneya-tīrtha. Bhagavān Sūrya, full of the Vedic mantras, comes here every day for pūjā, and at midday he comes in some other guise to see Brahmā, Śaṅkara and Hari. Because no one knows in what form he comes, everyone present at the tīrtha at midday is to be bowed to. Brahmā tells Nārada of it in the last chapter of the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa.
Where it lies
In that chapter Brahmā describes the tīrthas at the confluence of the Gautamī with the sea, where Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavān Hari revealed themselves to the ṛshis. In front of Somatīrtha is the Āgneya-tīrtha, where Agni performed great yajñas; beyond that is the Āditya Tīrtha; and after it comes the Bārhaspatya tīrtha, where the devas honoured Bṛhaspati.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 104
Sūrya at midday
Sūrya comes to this tīrtha every day for pūjā. At midday he comes in another guise to see Brahmā, Śaṅkara and Hari, who dwell at these tīrthas. Brahmā says: “Therefore at midday all the people there should always be bowed to, because it is not certain in what guise Savitṛ comes there. Hence it is called Āditya Tīrtha.”
The rite of this tīrtha is this: at midday, bow to every person who is present, for any one of them may be Sūrya himself.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 104
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 104