Cakratīrtha (Naimiśāraṇya)

Cakratīrtha is the sacred lake near Naimishāraṇya, at the place later known as Nīmkhār, in the Sitapur district of present-day Uttar Pradesh. Bhagavān Kalki stopped here after his victory at Kīkaṭapura, bathed, and received the frightened Vālakhilya ṛshis. These tiny ascetics had been driven from their forest paths by the winds of the breath of the rākshasī Kuṭhodarī. Cakratīrtha was the meeting place before the battle with Kuṭhodarī, and the Vālakhilya ṛshis sheltered there while the battle lasted.

Location

The Kalki Purāṇa describes Cakratīrtha as a sacred lake near Naimishāraṇya. Naimishāraṇya is the great forest of unending yajña (fire ritual) where the Kalki Purāṇa itself is set: there Śaunaka and the ṛshis gather to hear the account from Sūta, the son of Romaharshaṇa. The Kalki Purāṇa places Cakratīrtha at the spot linked with the name Nīmkhār, a village in the Sitapur district of modern Uttar Pradesh, near Naimishāraṇya. (Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, Chapter 2)

Kalki’s visit

Bhagavān Kalki defeated the Buddhist king Jina at Kīkaṭapura and accepted the tribute of the region. He set the kingdom in order and left with his army. On the road he came to Cakratīrtha and bathed there with full rites, the cleansing snāna fitting for a warrior and king at a tīrtha between campaigns.

While he rested at Cakratīrtha with his brothers, companions and followers, Kalki saw a group of ṛshis coming towards him in plain distress. (Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, Chapter 2)

The Vālakhilya ṛshis at Cakratīrtha

The ṛshis in distress were the Vālakhilya munis. They are so tiny that they travel in the hollow of a single thumb-nail, yet they carry the full heat of Vedic tapas (austerity). The mighty breath of Kuṭhodarī, strong enough to hurl elephants, had driven them from their forest paths. They could not go on in the mountain forest, so they fled to Cakratīrtha.

Bhagavān Kalki received them with deep respect and heard their report. He set out to deal with Kuṭhodarī. He left the main army below, at the foothills of the Himālaya, and used fire to clear the mountain paths. The Vālakhilya ṛshis stayed near Cakratīrtha through the whole battle.

After Kuṭhodarī was dead and Karaṃja was slain, the Vālakhilya ṛshis who had sheltered near Cakratīrtha came forward. They praised Bhagavān Kalki and blessed him before he left for Haridvāra. (Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, Chapter 2)

Holy standing

Through its link with Naimishāraṇya, Cakratīrtha is a tīrtha within one of the most sacred forest regions of the Purāṇas. Its part in the account of Kalki, as the resting place before the battle with Kuṭhodarī and the shelter of the Vālakhilya ṛshis, adds a place of its own to that general holiness. (Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, Chapter 2)

Sources

• Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, Chapter 2