Every year lakhs of devotees bring holy water in their kanwars from the Ganga and offer it at the Shiva temple in the small village of Pura in Baghpat district of western Uttar Pradesh. How did this tradition start and by whom? There are two stories about it.
The first story explains that during Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean), a highly lethal poison called Halahal was produced. Neither the Devas nor the Asuras, who were churning the ocean in search of treasures, dared to accept this poison as it was strong enough to destroy everything in the world. Instead, they requested Lord Shiva to accept it. Lord Shiva drank the poison but did not ingest it; he kept it in his throat. Due to the poison's effects, his throat turned blue, and he became known as Neelkanth, the one with a blue throat. Lord Shiva suffered a lot because of the virulent poison. In the Treta Yuga, to ease his suffering, Ravana, who was his ardent devotee, brought Ganga water and poured it on the Shivalinga at Pura Mahadeva temple. If you believe this story, Ravana could be regarded as the first kanwar yatri.
There is another story associated with the same temple. At the site where the temple stands today, there was once an ashram of Rishi Jamadagni. One day, while the rishi was away, a king named Sahastrabahu arrived there. The rishi’s wife, Renuka, offered him hospitality with milk, curd and butter from their divine cow, Kamadhenu. Impressed, the king attempted to take the cow by force, but failed. In frustration, he abducted Renuka and confined her to a room in his palace at Hastinapur. Later, the queen freed Renuka, and she returned to the ashram. When she narrated the incident to Jamadagni, he refused to accept her back and asked his sons to behead her. The eldest, second and third sons all refused. But the youngest, Rama, obeyed and beheaded his mother.
Filled with remorse, Rama undertook intense penance before a Shivalinga, bringing water from Garh Mukteshwar to offer upon it. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Shiva granted him a boon. Rama asked for his mother’s life to be restored. Shiva revived her and gave Rama a divine axe—parshu. From then on, he came to be known as Parshurama. With his axe, he killed King Sahasrabahu and many other oppressive Kshatriyas.
Depending on which story you believe, Ravana or Parshurama began the tradition of kanwar which is still observed by millions of devotees.
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