01The poison held in the throat
The Bhagavata Purana tells how the devas and asuras churned the ocean of milk for amrita, and how the first thing to rise was halahala, a poison that began to burn the three worlds. Mahadev took it in his palm and drank it, and Mata Parvati held his throat so that it went no further. The throat turned blue, and he has been Neelkantha ever since. The local katha adds that he then sat in meditation under a pipal tree in these hills, at the meeting of two streams, until the burning cooled. The linga in the sanctum is worshipped as the spot where he sat.
02Kanwar season
The temple sits at about 1,330 metres among the forests of the Rajaji hills, reached by a road of some 30 km from Rishikesh or by an old footpath from Swargashram. Its gopuram, crowded with painted figures of the Samudra Manthan, is a sight on the Garhwal road. In the month of Shravan the place fills with kanwariyas who carry Ganga water from Haridwar and Rishikesh to pour on the linga, and on Mahashivaratri the queue runs far down the hill.
The life of this place
- Samudra ManthanMahadev drinks the halahala and becomes Neelkantha (Bhagavata Purana, Skandha 8).
Shared jeeps and taxis run from Rishikesh (Ram Jhula side). In Shravan expect very large crowds and road controls for the Kanwar Yatra.
