| The gods, and
Indra their Lord, were sceptical and went straight to Shiva-Loka to verify
Brahma’sstatement. Now it transpired that Brahma had been no where around Shiva.
Shiva told them that Brahmadeva had deceived them. He himself went very wild and uttered a
curse against Brahma. Brahma would not be worshipped by anybody thenceforth. The Creator
was indignant and gave a counter-curse that Shiva would be hurled down to the Bhu-Loka and
would stay there in the form of a mountain. This mountain is none other than Brahmagiri,
and is also known as Tryambak- three- eyed -giri and at its base Shiva is seen in a
miniature form as Tryambakeshvar. After the initial wave of anger had passed a
reconciliation took place and Shiva associated the name of Brahma with his mountain form,
hence the name Brahmagiri. The temple of
Tryambakeshvar Mahadev is a magnificent pile. Enclosed within a courtyard measuring some
two hundred sixty by two hundred twenty feet, the temple is built in local black stone. On
either side of the entrance are talldipmalas with brackets of an artistic
varietyprojecting from them. Next to these and in front of the temple is a small but
extremely elegant structure- a small --cupola, that houses the nandi, the vahan of the
Lord. inside it, with the foreleg slightly raised is a marble image of the bull. The
easternmost part of the shrine is the mandap, square on plan and of massive proportions.
It has a door on each side. Each of these entrances (except the western that opens into
the antarala) is covered by porches. These porches have separate roofs but have the same
entablature and cornice as the mandap from which they project. The openings of these
porches are ornamen- ted by cusped arches and moulded pillars.
The roof is formed of slabs rising in steps from the
architrave. These slabs are curvilinear externally and each supports a discoid
termination, the shape of which is related to that of the surmounting dome. Above the
discoid terminations is a lotus- like finial which gives what grace it may to the
flattened domes of these ponderous structures. |
