Who performs the rites at Trimbakeshwar?
Inside the temple the pujaris perform the daily worship. The purohits of the town perform the rites pilgrims come to Trimbakeshwar for, and the Purohit Sangh is their body. This page says how the temple's worship is arranged and where the arrangement came from, who the Tungars are, and what the Purohit Sangh is.
तीर्थ पुरोहितtirtha purohit
a purohit who belongs to a tirtha and performs rites there for the families who come
Table of contents
Section I
Who performs the rites at Trimbakeshwar?
Two sets of priests, with two kinds of work. Inside the temple the daily pujas are performed by the पुजारी pujari, the priest who performs the worship of the deity in a temple. The rites pilgrims come to Trimbakeshwar for are performed by the purohits of the town. A पुरोहित purohit is the priest who performs a rite for a family and makes the offerings in the family’s name. A तीर्थ tirtha is a place of pilgrimage, and Trimbakeshwar is one. The purohits of Trimbakeshwar are its तीर्थ पुरोहित tirtha purohit, the purohits who belong to the tirtha and perform rites there for the families who come. By custom a pilgrim who comes to bathe at Kushavarta or to perform a shraddh has a purohit of the town.
Section II
How is the temple’s worship arranged?
The temple trust looks after the three daily pujas and the festivals of the year. The arrangement goes back to Nanasaheb Peshwa, who appointed Naro Damodar to look after the temple and provided for its expenses. It continued under the British. The establishment he provided for had three pujaris for the three daily pujas, one pujari for the other deities in the temple, one for the rites to the river, two devotees for the circumambulation of Brahmagiri, and a manager over all of them, with cooks, clerks, musicians and attendants besides. From Naro Damodar the care of the temple passed down in the Jogalekar family, and today it is with the trust.
Section III
Who are the Tungars?
The Tungar Mandali Trust holds a seat on the temple trust’s board. In the 1880s four men called Tungars lived in the temple, kept it clean and waited on the deity, under the Jogalekars.
Section IV
What is the Purohit Sangh?
The body of the purohits of Trimbakeshwar. Its president holds a seat on the temple trust’s board. It organises the पालखी palkhi, the palanquin, taken out every Monday. The image of Trimbakeshwar is carried in it from the temple to Kushavarta, and puja is performed there.
Section V
Explore more guides
Narayan Nagbali
A rite performed by a purohit at Trimbakeshwar and at Ramkund in Nashik, and what Narayan bali is for as the old texts give it.
Kaal Sarp Shanti
A shanti, a rite of pacification, performed at Trimbakeshwar and at Ramkund in Nashik, and what it is performed for.
Tripindi Shraddh
A rite performed at Trimbakeshwar, with a purohit officiating — what a shraddh is, where the bath before it was taken, and the round a shraddh there followed in the 1880s.
The Peshwas and the temple
Who built the temple and when, the day it opened, the family that ran it for two hundred years, the crown and the chariot, and how the trust that runs it today came to be.
Section VI