Lord Parshuram and Banganga

Today, I visited the Banganga and Walkeshwar temple with my mom and grand-moms. The drive was along the beautiful Arabian sea and Malabar hill coastline. 

The Walkeshvar temple had a big shivling at the center with Vasuki in Gold on the top. Surrounding it there was a quiet place to sit. There was a provision of water so that devotees could do an ‘Abhishek’. Tales suggest that the original Walkeshwar temple was destroyed by the Portuguese in the 16th century when they gained control of the Bombay islands and began spreading Christianity. The temple was rebuilt in 1715 with funding from a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin. Since then, it's been reconstructed several times, most recently in the 1950s. The waters are now polluted with several religious wastes. I wondered why the Government couldn't maintain it well so that more tourists could come and take the pleasure of visiting our old heritage. I am hoping that just as the PM has rebuilt the Kashi corridor, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/pm-narendra-modi-inaugurates-kashi-vishwanath-corridor-7670650/ something would be done about this temple too which has a link to the Ganga.

There were also many other temples surrounding the rectangular stretch of Ban Ganga waters- Radha Krishna, Parshuram, Shiva temple, and the Rameshwaram temple. 

Origin of Banganga: The water that feeds the tank stems from an underground spring at that spot, despite its proximity to the sea.

Multiple stories suggest that Lord Vishnu is his Ram or Parshuram Avtar shot an arrow at this spot and brought the Ganges from the Himalayas over here. Hence the name Banganga(Ban-Arrow). This helped Ram and Laxman quench their thirst on their way to rescue Sita from Ravan. At this spot, Lord Rama worshipped Shiva Lingam and he is said to have constructed the original Linga of sand. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word for an idol made of sand -- Valuka Iswar, an Avatar of Shiva. Hence the name Walkeshwar.

Parshuram is the 6th avatar of Vishnu, a big devotee of Shiva. No wonder there were so many Shivlings in the Walkeshvar temple. Parshuram was the guru of Bhishma and Karna. He is one of the 12 Chiranjeevi(someone who is immortal) and is still alive. I narrate 3 stories of Parshuram here. Hope you enjoy reading them.

Parshuram and Karna:

 Parshuram was very knowledgeable and powerful and Karna wanted to learn from Parshuram, but he knew that Parshuram wouldn’t teach Karna because he was the son of a mere charioteer. So Karna shaved his head and wore clothes like a Brahmin and went to Parshuram. Parshuram thought he was a Brahmin and taught him for years. After learning everything, once Parshuram wanted to sleep so Karna offered his lap. When Parshuram was sleeping on Karna’s lap, a big insect bit Karna and blood started coming out. Karna didn’t say anything because it would disturb his guru. Sometime later, Parshuram woke up and saw the blood coming out. He knew that if Karna would be a Brahmin, he would not be able to bear the pain. Parshuram said you are definitely a Kshatriya and asked him why he had lied. Karna revealed that he was neither a Brahmin nor a Kshatriya, but a Sut Putra(son of a charioteer).  Parshuram cursed him that whenever he needed his powers the most, he would forget them. That came true in Mahabharat when Arjun defeated Karna. 

Parshuram and Nandini:

Once Parshuram, his parents, and his brothers lived in an ashram. One day a king came with his soldiers and Senapati. Parshuram’s parents had to arrange food for them, but it would take a long time to make food for him and his soldiers. So Parshuram’s mother asked Nandini for help. Nandini gave them enough food and Parshuram’s mother could serve them food. After eating the food, the king wondered about how Parashurama’s mother made so much food in so little time. He asked her how she did that. What secret was it? His mother answered that it was no secret, Nandini did it. After saying that, the king thought that such a miraculous cow should be his. So he took the cow. Parshuram’s parents tried stopping him but he wouldn’t listen so the king killed Parshuram’s parents and took Nandini. After that day, Parshuram was furious at how his parents got killed and vowed to kill every one of the Kshatriyas in the world because the one that killed his parents was a Kshatriya. So Parshuram meditated for Shiva for years and asked for a weapon that could kill anyone. Shiva gave one of his strongest weapons to Parshuram. Parshuram killed hundreds of Kshatriyas in the world until someone calmed him down.

Parshuram and Bhishma:

Amba was angry when Bhishma had refused to marry him. So she went to Parshuram and asked him to tell Bhishma. Parshuram advised Bhishma to marry Amba since he felt he had been unfair to her. But Bhishma said he was bound by his Bhishmapratidnya-The oath to remain a bachelor throughout his life. Parshuram fought a battle with Bhishma for 23 days to protect his word given to Amba. But Bhishma didn’t give in. Finally, Amba meditated for Shiva and got the boon that she will be responsible for Bhishma’s death. In her next life, she was born Shikhandi and avenged her insult.