Mandirs in Nashikਨਾਸਿਕ ਦੇ ਮੰਦਰ

Nashik, on the Godavari in Maharashtra, is a Ramayana city and a Kumbh city at once, and its mandirs spread across three different settings. West of the city, at Trimbak, stands Trimbakeshwar, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, at the source of the Godavari. In the old Panchavati quarter stands the Kalaram Temple, Nashik's most important Rama shrine. At Nashik Road stands Muktidham, a modern white marble complex that gathers replicas of all twelve Jyotirlingas under one roof. This guide covers the three together. Jugti's full entry for Trimbakeshwar is linked below; the other two are introduced here and will receive their own full entries in time.

Trimbakeshwar: the three-faced Jyotirlinga at the river's source

The Trimbakeshwar Temple stands in the town of Trimbak, 28 kilometres from Nashik city, between the Brahmagiri, Nilagiri and Kalagiri hills. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, and it is unlike any other: its linga carries three faces, for Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva together. The Kusavarta kunda, the sacred pond in the temple grounds, is honoured as the source of the Godavari, the second longest river in India, and tradition tells how the sage Gautama's penance brought the river down here. The present black stone temple, in the Hemadpanthi manner, was built by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, also called Nanasaheb, in the mid 18th century, after the earlier temple was destroyed under Aurangzeb. Hindu genealogy registers of pilgrim families are kept here, and rites such as Narayan Nagbali and Kalsarpa Shanti draw pilgrims from across India.

Kalaram Temple: the black Rama of Panchavati

In Panchavati, the quarter where tradition says Rama, Sita and Lakshmana lived for two and a half years of their exile on the northern bank of the Godavari, stands the Kalaram Temple. Its name means Black Rama, for the black stone image of Rama in the sanctum, with Sita and Lakshmana beside him. An older temple stood on the site, estimated to the Rashtrakuta period of the 7th to 11th centuries. The present temple was funded by Sardar Rangarao Odhekar and built in the late 18th century: tradition in Nashik tells that Odhekar dreamed the black image lay in the Godavari, recovered it from the river, and built the temple for it, and his statue stands in the temple today. The main temple climbs 14 steps, for the 14 years of Rama's exile, and the complex holds 84 pillars. A black image of Hanuman guards the main entrance, placed so that Rama is visible from Hanuman's shrine.

Kalaram also carries a modern history that every visitor should know. On 2 March 1930, B. R. Ambedkar led a large satyagraha outside this temple, demanding that Dalits be allowed to enter, with protesters singing, raising slogans and surrounding the temple. The Kalaram Mandir Satyagraha ran until 1935 and became a landmark of the Dalit movement in India. The temple's great festivals are Ram Navami, Navratri and Diwali.

Muktidham: twelve Jyotirlingas in white marble

At Nashik Road, a suburb of the city, stands Muktidham, a marble temple complex founded in 1971 through the donation of the local industrialist J. D. Chauhan-Bytco, Jairambhai Chauhan, and run by a private trust. It is built of Makrana marble from Rajasthan, worked by Rajasthani sculptors. Its signature idea is completeness: replicas of all twelve Jyotirlingas stand here, built to the dimensions of the originals and sanctified by being sent to their home pilgrimage centres, alongside images of Vishnu, Lakshmi, Rama, Lakshmana, Sita, Hanuman, Durga and Ganesha. A temple to Krishna carries paintings of Krishna's life and the Mahabharata by the painter Raghubir Mulgaonkar, and the eighteen chapters of the Gita are written on its walls. A dharamshala in the complex can house at least 200 pilgrims, and the complex draws thousands of devotees during the Kumbh Mela.

How do the three temples fit together on a visit?

Most pilgrims give Trimbakeshwar its own half day or full day: the Jyotirlinga, the Kusavarta kunda and the Brahmagiri hills. Kalaram belongs with a walk through Panchavati and the Godavari ghats, and Muktidham pairs easily with arrival or departure, close to Nashik Road station. Read together, the three show Nashik whole: an ancient Jyotirlinga at a river's source, a Rama temple layered with Ramayana memory and modern social history, and a modern complex built so that a pilgrim short on time can honour all twelve Jyotirlingas in one place. All three stand on the Godavari's story, the river the Nashik Kumbh, the Simhastha, celebrates every twelve years. This guide is part of Jugti's mandirs in India collection.

All Mandirs in Nashik

• Trimbakeshwar Temple : the three-faced Jyotirlinga at Trimbak, 28 km from Nashik, at the Kusavarta source of the Godavari
• Kalaram Temple: Nashik's black Rama temple in Panchavati, funded by Sardar Rangarao Odhekar in the late 18th century, site of Ambedkar's 1930 satyagraha (full entry coming)
• Muktidham: the white marble complex at Nashik Road, founded in 1971, with replicas of all twelve Jyotirlingas and the Gita on its walls (full entry coming)