Mahashivratri is on Tuesday, March 1. There is a special tradition of visiting the temples of Shiva on this day. Kashi (Varanasi) of Uttar Pradesh has an important place in the famous pilgrimages of Shiva. Apart from Vishwanath ji in Kashi, there are many other Shiva temples of mythological importance. The history of many temples is hundreds of years old. One such ancient temple is Tilbhandeshwar Mahadev. In relation to this temple, it is believed that every year on Makar Sankranti, the Shivling situated here grows by mole-til-til. For this reason this temple is called Tilbhandeshwar. There are many legends related to the temple.
A large number of Shiva devotees will reach the Tilbhandeshwar Mahadev temple on Shivaratri. Apart from this festival, devotees also reach for darshan on Monday and Pradosh fast. Generally, devotees also worship here for the peace of Kaal Sarp Dosh. The idols of many deities are installed in the temple.
This Shivling has manifested itself
In relation to Tilbhandeshwar Mahadev Shivling, the belief is prevalent here that it is a self-styled Shivling. This area was the penance place of Rishi Vibhand. Sage Vibhand used to worship Shiva here. Pleased with his tenacity, God gave a boon that this Shivling would continue to grow like a sesame seed every year. The darshan of this Shivling gives a virtuous result equal to the virtue obtained from the Ashwamedha Yagya. This temple has got the name Tilbhandeshwar due to the growing of sesame seeds and after the name of sage Vibhand.
According to another belief, sesame was cultivated in this area in olden times. At that time the farmers had seen this Shivling in this area. People started worshiping Shivling. People here used to offer sesame seeds on Shivling. Because of this it came to be called as Tilbhandeshwar.
Temple stories related to Aurangzeb
The story is prevalent here that the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had come to Kashi. At that time the emperor had sent soldiers here to break this temple. As soon as the soldiers tried to break the Shivling, blood started flowing from the Shivling. Seeing this miracle, all the soldiers fled from here.
According to another legend, once the British tried to check the truth about the growth of Shivling. The British had tied the thread firmly around the Shivling which broke after some time.
