Nirmand: The Village of Parshurama

 Nirmand: The Village of Parshurama

 

Nirmand is a village of  Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh in India , also known as choti kashi of Himalaya . The word “NIRMAND” is derivative of ‘NIR+MUND’ which means without head.  It is known for its mythological link to Parshurama Rishi, sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is believed to be the location where the Rishi settled the Brahmins. To honour of the Rishi, villagers made a temple called Parshuram Kothi.

 

A strange phenomenon of public perception is that period Daksha organized a Yagya Utsav (fire sacrifice) to which all the deities, except Shiva, were invited. Sati wanted to go there. Shiva tried to stop her as he knew that Daksha will insult her, but when she was not convinced, he allowed her to go. Daksha was furious by her uninvited arrival and insulted her and Shiva. Wanting to break all ties with her father and uphold the honour of her husband, Sati burnt her body in the Yagyakund. When Shiva came to know about this incident, he got very angry and roamed with Sati's body throughout the universe carrying her body on his Trishul. By seeing this Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra to smash the corpse of Sati. Sati’s body was break into many pieces. Wherever these limbs fell they are called Shakti Peeth.When Shiva reached Nirmand,the head of the sati fell here and Trishul became devoid of head i.e NIRMUND. Hence the name was NIRMUND which later became Nirmand.

 

There is also a temple of Mata Ambika which is a center of reverence for the people of this village.  Another belief is that in the Satyug when humans were being persecuted by demons, Parshurama came to Nirmand. Parshurama then in his rage eradicated many demons with his axe. But he failed to eradicate them all. When Gods saw that even Parshurama was unable to kill them all they adored Mahakali (Devi Ambika). Then Devi Ambika fought with demons and killed all of them. After this, the temple of Mata Ambika was built in Nirmand.

You can also read History of Somnath Temple