Place · Vishnu temple · India
Triyugi Narayan, Rudraprayag
Also known as Rudraprayag, Triyugi Narayan
The Triyugi Narayan Vishnu temple at Triyugi Narayan village in Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, at 1,980m — the mythological wedding site of Shiva and Parvati, where their marriage is said to have taken place in the Treta Yuga. The temple holds the perpetual fire (akhanda dhuni) that is said to have burned uninterrupted since Shiva and Parvati's wedding — three ages (Treta, Dvapara and Kali Yugas) hence the name 'Triyugi' (three-age) Narayan. The fire has been maintained by the temple priests for over 1,000 years of documented history. The current temple structure is 8-century Adi Shankara attribution. The adjacent Brahma Shila (where the god Brahma performed the kanyadan ceremony) and the three Himalayan kunds (Rudra Kund, Vishnu Kund and Brahma Kund where the gods bathed before the wedding) complete the site. The annual Shivaratri festival each February draws devotees for ritual blessings for marriage.
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Confidence
- Traditional / narrative attribution — The defining association is carried by mythic tradition; it is presented as a traditional or narrative attribution.
- Location
- 30.649, 78.997
Connections (1)
- Kedar routeKedāranāth
Triyugi Narayan in the upper Mandakini valley keeps a fire said to have burned since Shiva and Parvati were married before it, and it stands on the Kedarnath approach — pilgrims pass it going up. The village priests hold the marriage tradition and the Kedarnath establishment holds the jyotirlinga, and the two make a single ritual landscape in which the god's domestic life and his aniconic rock are a few hours' walk apart.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Rudraprayag”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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