Tapkeshwar Temple, also known as Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple, is a temple in

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. The temple is on the bank of the

Tons River The Tons (टौंस नदी) is the largest tributary of the Yamuna. It flows through Garhwal region in Uttarakhand, touching Himachal Pradesh. The Tons thrust is named after this river. With its source in the high Bandarpunch mountain ...

, built on top of a natural cave, which holds the temple's main shivalinga.

History

The Tapkeshwar Temple is believed to be 6,000 years old. It has a natural shivalinga in the cave, which became a place of reverence for the local people. It is also believed that this was used as a residence by Dronacharya, the teacher of the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

and

Kauravas ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his ...

in the Hindu

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

; the cave is called Drona Cave after him. Dronacharya's wife Kalyani was unable to breastfeed their newborn son

Ashwatthama Ashvatthama (, , also spelt as Ashwatthama and Ashvatthaman) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the son of Drona, the royal preceptor to the Kuru princes—the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Ashvatthama is a close ...

. As Dronacharya was unable to afford a cow or cow's milk,

prayed to

, who then fed him milk dripping from the shivalinga in the cave.

Operations

The temple is popular as both a tourist destination and a pilgrimage site in Dehradun. Pilgrims bathe in the nearby sulphur-water springs before entering the temple. Drona Cave, surrounded by hills, is a popular site for picnickers from Dehradun and nearby districts.

Events

Every year during Mahashivratri, a fair is held in Tapkeshwar Mahadev temple for over a week. On this day, Shiva devotees come here from far and wide. On the day of Mahashivratri, the temple is decorated with lighting and flowers. Mahaprasad is organized for the devotees visiting here by the temple trust. On this auspicious occasion, the form of Mahadev "Aghori" is also seen here. Who come from Kedarnath and Badrinath. Apart from Mahashivratri, devotees also visit this temple for darshan in the month of Shravan. This temple is open every day from 6 am to 7 pm, but in Shravan the temple is kept open day and night, so that all the devotees can get darshan of Mahadev ji. The temple hold a large festival on

Shivratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

. The temple committee organizes free meals for the devotees. Every year on

Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...

, a local theater group, Hamari Pehchan, begins their holiday performance at the temple.

References

{{Hindu temples in Uttarakhand Hindu temples in Uttarakhand Shiva temples in Uttarakhand Tourist attractions in Dehradun Buildings and structures in Dehradun