Brahmagiri is the sacred mountain at the source of the Gautamī river, which is also called the Godāvarī. It stands in the Daṇḍaka forest, near the town of Tryambak (Trimbakeshwar) in Nāsik district of Maharashtra. It is the place of Gautama Maharshi’s āśrama, and Bhagavān Śiva dwells here for ever as Tryambakeśvara, one of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas.

Location

Brahmagiri rises near the town of Tryambak in Nāsik district of Maharashtra. The Godāvarī takes her source from its slopes. She flows east across the Deccan and reaches the Bay of Bengal after about 1,465 kilometres. She is the longest river of the Deccan peninsula.

Origin of the name

Brahmagiri means “the mountain of Brahmā”. The name comes from an event at the very start of creation. Brahmā wished to create beings that move and beings that do not move. He performed a yajña (fire ritual) on this mountain. It was then called Devayajana, the sacrifice-ground of the devas. After this the mountain became known as Brahmāgiri, linked with the name of Brahmā. The Brahma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 5.

Gautama’s āśrama

Brahmagiri is the place of Gautama Maharshi’s lasting āśrama. The mountain’s great holiness had drawn him, and he had lived there since ancient times.

The Brahma Mahā Purāṇa says that during a great drought of 24 years all life in the mortal world suffered. Gautama’s āśrama was the one place of plenty. By the power of his tapas (austerity), herbs and vegetables grew at his word. The devas in svarga (heaven) could be pleased only when Gautama made the offerings. Ṛshis came from all over the world and lived at his āśrama during the drought. Gautama looked after them all for many years as a father, a son and a teacher would. (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 5)

The gift of Brahmagiri

The Brahma Mahā Purāṇa tells that Brahmā gave Ahalyā in marriage to Gautama, after Gautama won the contest of going around the earth. With her, Brahmā gave the mountain Brahmagiri to Gautama as a wedding gift. So Brahmagiri became Gautama’s own sacred land.

The account of Indra’s deceit and Ahalyā’s śāpa (curse) took place on the banks of the Gautamī, at the foot of Brahmagiri. (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 16)

The Gaṅgā released on Brahmagiri

Gautama received the Gaṅgā from the matted hair of Bhagavān Śiva at Kailāsa. He then came back to Brahmagiri with the matted hair that held the river. The devas, the Gandharvas and the dwellers of the mountains honoured him with showers of flowers and cries of “Victory.”

On the summit of Brahmagiri, Gautama placed his matted hair, the vessel in which the divine river was being carried. The Gaṅgā then came down from the summit. The river divided into fifteen channels:

four flowed to svarga (heaven)
seven flowed across the earth
four went down to the nether worlds (pātāla)

Bhagavān Śiva himself gave the river six sacred names at this time. (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 6–7)

The source of the Godāvarī

The Śiva Purāṇa tells of Gautama’s tapas on this mountain. It names a twelve-year drought and a go-hatyā (the killing of a cow) that was falsely staged against Gautama. He did austerities to bring sacred river water to the Deccan. He asked Bhagavān Śiva that the Gaṅgā should come down to the Deccan, as she had come down to the north at Bhagīratha’s request.

Bhagavān Śiva was pleased. He caused the Godāvarī to flow from his own matted hair (jaṭā) at Brahmagiri. Bhagavān Śiva then made his home on Brahmagiri for ever as Tryambakeśvara.

In the upper part of her course the river is called Gautamī, after Gautama, whose tapas brought her down. She is also called Dakshiṇa Gaṅgā, the Gaṅgā of the South. (Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 24–27)

The Añjana mountain and Hanūmān’s birth

On the southern bank of the Gautamī, beside Brahmagiri, lies the Añjana mountain. The celestial women Añjanā and Adrikā lived here after Indra’s śāpa made them fall from their place. Agastya came to this mountain and granted them a vara (a boon) of sons.

Hanūmān was born to Añjanā and Vāyu. Adri, the king of the piśācas, was born to Adrikā and Nirṛti. After the births, the two women bathed in the Gautamī and were freed from their śāpa. The Paiśāca Tīrtha at the foot of the Añjana mountain, near Brahmagiri, keeps this event in memory. (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 14)

The Tryambakeśvara Jyotirliṅga

Bhagavān Śiva made Brahmagiri his own home as Tryambakeśvara, one of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas. The name Tryambaka means “the three-eyed lord”. This Jyotirliṅga marks the source of the Gautamī. It is also the lasting home of Bhagavān Śiva’s grace for Gautama and for all pilgrims who come after him. (Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 73)

The Tryambakeśvara Jyotirliṅga is the eighth of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas.

The Tryambakeśvara temple

The Tryambakeśvara temple stands at the foot of Brahmagiri. It is one of the most important temples of Bhagavān Śiva in Maharashtra. The liṅga in the temple stands for the three eyes of Tryambaka, which are the sun, the moon and fire, in one liṅga.

The temple is also a site of the Siṃhastha Kumbha Melā. This is held every twelve years, when Bṛhaspati (Jupiter) enters Siṃha (Leo). During this time the Godāvarī at Nāsik becomes one of the four Kumbha Melā sites.

The pilgrimage

The pilgrimage to Brahmagiri and Tryambakeśvara usually includes:

climbing Brahmagiri to see the source of the Godāvarī
bathing at the source tank, the Kuśāvarta kuṇḍa at Tryambak, which is the ceremonial source point
darśana of the Tryambakeśvara Jyotirliṅga
bathing in the Godāvarī at Nāsik, at the Rāmakuṇḍa ghāṭa

Sources

Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 5–7, 14, 16
Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 73
Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 24–27