Bhīmāśaṅkar

Śiva the destroyer of Bhīma · Sahyādri hills, Pune district, Maharashtra

Bhīmāśaṅkar lies in the forested Sahyādri hills of the Western Ghats, near the source of the Bhīmā river. The stone temple is in the Nāgara style, and the area around it is a wildlife sanctuary.

The monsoon, roughly June to September, makes the hills green and misty and draws many trekkers, though paths are slippery; the winter months are calmer. The Stotra places this Jyotirliṅga “ḍākinyāṃ”, in the Ḍākinī region. Most devotees identify it with the Maharashtra temple, while a tradition in Assam identifies a Bhīmāśaṅkar near Guwahati.

According to the Śiva Purāṇa, Bhīma, a son of Kumbhakarṇa, grew up to hate the gods after learning that Rāma had killed his father. Empowered by a boon, he imprisoned a devout king and tried to stop his worship of Śiva. As Bhīma raised his sword against the liṅga, Śiva appeared and destroyed him, and stayed there as Bhīmāśaṅkara.

Maharashtra · Bhīmā river source · Wildlife sanctuary · Mahāśivarātri

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