Lakulish Temple: A shiva Temple Where Vishwamitra Rishi Wrote Savitri Mantra

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As per the Shiva purana, there are 28 centres of Shiva Pilgrimage of which the 28th one is located in Vadodara district of Gujarat. This temple is called Lakulisha temple, or the temple of an incarnation of Lord Lakulisha or Shiva.

Lakulisha, when translated. means "the lord with a staff or mace or club or stick. " It is the famous Kayavarohan temple of Lord Shiva which is most significant for Pashupata sect. The avatar is Lakulisha and the temple is also called Kashi of Gujarat.

Kayavarohan temple is regarded as a heritage site. It was a centre of learning like Nalanda of Ashokan times, with exceeding number of yagashalas and temples. Innumerable number of Yagas have been conducted here. It is not surprising that it was called second Kashi.

Kaya means body and avarohan means descend. When Lord Shiva incarnated as Lakulish in the form of a brahmin boy, this place came to called Kayavarohan temple.

This temple has an interesting historical episode related to it. When the temple was razed by Muhamed Ghazni the radiant jyotirlinga merged as a ray of light into the other 12 jyotirlingas and disappeared from the sight then and there.The Shiva is self manifested.

This is also known to be the place where Sage Vishwamitra penned the Savitri Mantra. The Gayatri mantra is comprised of two parts, the Savitri mantra with which it begins and the gayatri mantra that comes as a latter part. The first part "Oh Bhur Bhuvah Swaha" is Savitri Mantra and the remaining from "Tat Sat Viturvarenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi" is Gayatri Mantra. Sage Vishwamitra chose to write this on the spot which is 750 mtrs from the temple.

It was called by different names in different yugas; Ichhapuri in Satyuga, Mayapuri in Treta Yuga, Meghavati in Dwapar Yuga, and Kayavarohan of the present Kali yuga. Thus Kayavarohan is also known as second Kashi.

The original temple was supposed to be built by Shiva and it has seen several reconstructions and renovations after that.

The temple is located by lord Shiva..In this temple, Lord Shiva is seen as a yogi in a meditating pose who holds a parchment in one hand and citron fruit in the other.

Shivas idol is made of black stone. Mahashivratri is when the temple gets crowded to the brim. Kayavarohan temple is built as per the traditional texts. .You can find nature carvings on the walls and pillars. Different yogis doing various yogasanas are depicted on the walls.

Shiva lingam itself is a manifestation of a meditating yogi in Shambavi Mudra. There is a meditation cave, lodging facility, large compounds with variety of trees.

In the temple compound there is a yoga university in which several students enroll to learn yoga. The residents of this place are known for their highly spiritual bent of mind and they follow strictly the shaivaite lifestyle.

Whenever people see each other. They greet each other not with a Namste but by 'Jai Bhagwan. It is a way of recognizing the paramatma who resides in a person. It is also known for an intellectual vedic tradition that is dedicated to learning.

When we say Hello to our friend, we are just greeting this friend and being pleasant to this person. But when we say Jai Bhagwan, we are calling out to God in him and pleasing the God.