Trimbakeshwar Temple

There's a temple in Shivala that carries the triple-headed mystery of one of India's most architecturally unique Jyotirlingas. Trimbakeshwar Temple in Varanasi is a replica of the original Trimbakeshwar of Nashik, Maharashtra — the only Jyotirlinga where the Linga has three faces, representing Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva simultaneously. The original temple sits at the source of the Godavari River, India's second-longest river, and was built by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao in the 18th century after Aurangzeb destroyed an older structure. The Linga's three faces are covered by a jeweled crown said to be from the age of the Pandavas, and the original once held the famous Nassak Diamond — stolen by the British during the Third Anglo-Maratha War and now lost to private hands in America. The Varanasi replica at B2/26, Shivala captures this triune mystery in miniature. The temple follows traditional North Indian Nagara style rather than the original's Hemadpanthi black stone architecture, but the three-faced Linga remains the central focus. Devotees come here seeking the blessings of all three aspects of the divine — creation, preservation, and destruction — in a single darshan. The Shivala neighborhood is one of Varanasi's older residential areas, and the temple serves a mixed community of Marathi and North Indian devotees who share a common reverence for the Peshwa-era legacy. The temple is also known as Triambakeshwar or Triloknath in local parlance, and some sources place it at D-38/21, Hauj Katora — suggesting there may be multiple shrines carrying this powerful name across the city.