From the Source Downstream
The story of the Godavari begins at her source. On the Brahmagiri plateau there is a place called "Gangadwar", where a stream of water emerges from a cleft in the hill and, it is believed, reaches down to Kushavarta in the town of Trimbakeshwar. When you climb the hill, the Brahmagiri temple and the original source of the Godavari are shown at the summit, where devotees can see three old udumbar (cluster fig) trees and water flowing from a gomukh (a cow-head spout). It is said that a letter from the Peshwa era ordered that this source be protected and that a gomukh be built there. This makes it clear that the source was being cared for even in the eighteenth century.
It is believed that between the source and the town of Trimbakeshwar the river hides underground and appears at some places. She takes a visible form at places such as Gangadwar, Ram-Lakshman Kund and Kushavarta. Further on she meets the Ahilya river. According to tradition Ahilya was the wife of the sage Gautama, who took the form of a dry river because of a curse. This confluence is called the "Gautami-Ahilya Sangam" and is considered sacred for rites for the ancestors and for special rituals.
The Brahmagiri pheri
On every Monday in the month of Shravan a big yatra gathers at Trimbakeshwar. Thousands of devotees walk around the Brahmagiri mountain, a circuit known locally as the "Brahmagiri pheri". This circumambulation route is several kilometres long, hilly and slippery in the monsoon. On Kartik Purnima there is a tradition of carrying Trimbakraja's palanquin to Kushavarta. The yatra of Nivruttinath gathers on the Ekadashi of the dark fortnight of Paush. All year round, for one occasion or another, the village stays bustling with devotees.
Kushavarta Tirth
A short distance from the temple is the Kushavarta Tirth, which is considered the visible source of the Godavari. The word Kushavarta is made of "kusha" and "avarta". Kusha means darbha grass, and avarta means turning in a circle, or a bend. According to the Puranic story, Sage Gautama used darbha grass to stop the flow of the Ganga and contain it in a tank, and the water then swirled around the darbha. That is why it is called Kushavarta. Controlling the flow gave its force a direction, and from there the Godavari flowed onward.
Today's Kushavarta is a square tank with stone ghats and a mandapa around it. In the temple area it is pointed out that it was built by Sardar Raosaheb Parnerkar of the Indore state, and there is a half-length statue of him and his wife at the edge of the tank. During the Simhastha the sadhus of the Shaiva akhadas (orders of ascetics), especially the Naga sadhus, take their amrit snan (the main holy dip) in this very Kushavarta.