Trilochana, also called Trivishṭapa (the triple svarga), is a self-arisen (svayambhū) Liṅga in Kāśī. Bhagavān Śiva himself declares it the greatest of all Liṅgas, greater even than Oṅkāreśvara and every other Liṅga in Kāśī. Its pīṭha (sacred seat) is called Virājā.

Chapters 75 and 76 of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa (Uttarārdha) give the full teaching on Trilochana. They also tell of two doves, Pārāvata and Kālaravī, who lived in the Trilochana temple. Their devotion carried them through new births until Bhagavān Śiva appeared before them.

The Virājā pīṭha and the Trivishṭapa Liṅga

The pīṭha on which this Liṅga stands is called Virājā, which means free from rajas (the quality of restless passion). The text says that a visit to this pīṭha frees the devotee from rajas.

To the south of the Liṅga three sacred rivers meet:

Sarasvatī. The Sarasvatīśvara Liṅga is set up to her south. Seeing it gives the region of Sarasvatī.
Kālindhī (Yamunā). The Yamuneśvara Liṅga stands to the west. Those who do pūjā there do not go to the world of Yama.
Narmadā. The Narmadeśa Liṅga stands to the east. Those who do pūjā there do not have to stay in a womb again.

All three rivers take subtle forms and bathe the Trivishṭapa Liṅga three times every day. The meeting of their waters in Kāśī is the Pilipilā Tīrtha. All the great tīrthas come to it on the eighth and fourteenth lunar days of every month. The Kāśī Khaṇḍa gives this in Chapter 75.

Why the Liṅga is called Trilochana

Bhagavān Śiva told Pārvatī why the Liṅga has this name. He said: “Long ago I was absorbed in Yoga. This great Liṅga pierced through the seven nether worlds and came out in front of me. I stood within this Liṅga, and from within it I gave you, O Gaurī, three eyes. You saw the excellent Liṅga. Since then this Liṅga is praised as Trilochana, the giver of the vision of knowledge.”

The devotees of Trilochana are themselves counted as three-eyed. They are living-liberated attendants of Bhagavān Śiva. (Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 75)

Greatest of all Liṅgas

Bhagavān Śiva said to Pārvatī: “As the Sun is the best among the lights and the Moon is the best among things worth seeing, so the Trilochana Liṅga is the greatest among all Liṅgas.”

The Liṅga has these special fruits:

One cannot gain through a whole life of pūjā at other Liṅgas what one gains by worshipping Trilochana once.
A visit to Trivishṭapa in Kāśī gives the fruit of visiting all the Liṅgas on the whole earth.
A bow to it destroys all the pāpa (sin) gathered in seven births.
Even those who have done the gravest pāpa are cleansed by a bow to Trilochana: killers of brāhmaṇas, thieves, those who defile the guru’s bed, those who set fire to homes, killers of cows, and the rest of the thirty-five kinds of mahāpātaka (great pāpa). The only exception is the one who speaks against Bhagavān Śiva. For him there is no prāyaścitta (atonement) anywhere.
Seven walks around the Trilochana shrine at Pradosha (dusk of the thirteenth lunar day) give the puṇya (merit) of walking around the whole earth.
If a devotee sees Trivishṭapa but dies elsewhere, he is set free in the next birth.
At other Liṅgas special times are named. At Trivishṭapa night and day are equally good for pūjā.

(Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 75)

Annual festival

The third day (Tṛtīyā) of the bright half of Vaiśākha is the great yearly festival of Trilochana. On this day the devotee should:

bathe in the whirlpool of the Pilipilā Tīrtha;
fast and keep awake through the night;
bathe again in the morning and do pūjā to Trilochana;
give dharma-ghaṭas (pots of cooked rice given for puṇya) together with gifts of money, remembering the ancestors;
break the fast in the company of devotees of Bhagavān Śiva.

Those who keep this day become Gaṇas of Bhagavān Śiva after death. (Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 75)

The two doves

In the Rathantara Kalpa two doves, the male Pārāvata and the female Kālaravī, made their nest in the Trilochana temple, which was set with rubies and gems. They walked around the temple every day and bathed in the waters of Pilipilā. They heard devotees say the names “Trilochana” and “Trivishṭapa” without meaning to, and they saw the ārātrika (lamp rite) done three times a day. In this way the birds gathered great puṇya in that temple.

A vulture began to stalk them and at last seized both in the sky. Kālaravī had warned her husband again and again to leave. Now, even while they were in the vulture’s beak, she told him to bite its foot. The male dove did so. The vulture screamed and both birds fell free. In time they died on the bank of the river Śarayū, which gives a birth in Kāśī.

Their next births

The male dove was born again as Parimalālaya, son of Mandāradāma, a Vidyādhara in the city of Ayodhyā. From childhood he was devoted to Bhagavān Śiva. He carried the resolve of his past life: “I will not eat a morsel before I worship Trilochana in Kāśī.” He kept this vow and went to Kāśī every day.

The female dove was born again as Ratnāvalī, daughter of the Nāga king Ratnadīpa in Pātāla. She too was devout and carried a vow: “I will not speak until I have worshipped Trilochana each day.” Every day she went to Trilochana with her two companions Prabhāvatī and Kalāvatī. They sang and danced and played the vīṇā and flutes before the Liṅga in all three sandhyā periods (dawn, noon and dusk).

On the third day of the bright half of Mādhava (Vaiśākha) they fasted and stayed awake in worship through the night. On the morning of the fourth day, after bathing in Pilipilā, they slept in the temple pavilion. Then Trilochana Bhagavān Śiva himself came out of the Liṅga and appeared before them. He said: “The son of Mandāradāman, the Vidyādhara named Parimalālaya, will become the husband of all of you. You will enjoy worldly pleasures for a long time in the world of the Vidyādharas. Then you will lose your attachment and gain the fruit of living in Kāśī. All four of you, the three companions and he, will reach moksha at the end of this life.” (Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 76)

Nearby Liṅgas

The text names several Liṅgas near Trilochana:

Śāntanava. It stands on the bank of the Gaṅgā. Seeing it gives peace from worldly life.
Bhīshmeśa. It stands to the south. Seeing it keeps away the harassment of Kali, Kāla and Kāma.
Droṇeśa. It stands to the west. By worshipping it Droṇa took the form of a luminary.
Aśvatthāmeśvara. It stands in front of Droṇeśa. Worship there keeps the son of Droṇa free from fear of Kāla.
Vālakhilyeśvara. It stands to the north-west. A visit gives the puṇya of all yajñas.
Vālmīkeśvara. It stands to the left. Seeing it removes all grief.

(Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 75)

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 75–76.