Trishuli and Gosaikunda

To obtain the nectar that grants immortality, the gods and the danavas joined together to churn the ocean of milk. Making Mount Mandarachal the churning rod and the serpent king Vasuki the rope, both sides began to churn the ocean.

In the course of the churning, there emerged from the ocean the wish-granting cow Kamadhenu, the horse Uchchaishrava, the elephant Airavata, the Kaustubha gem, and, together with the goddess Lakshmi, the pot of nectar.

But after that there emerged from the ocean the terrible Kalakuta (Halahala) poison, capable of reducing the entire universe to ashes. When the dreadful flames of the poison spread fire over water, land and sky, the gods and danavas cried out in distress and took refuge with Lord Shiva.

For the protection of the world, Lord Shiva took that entire Halahala poison into his own mouth and held it in his throat. Because of the poison's effect Shiva's throat turned blue, and he became famous by the name 'Nilakantha'.

To soothe the unbearable heat and burning of the poison, Shiva set out toward the lap of the Himalaya in search of a cool place. There, in the hard rock covered with snow, he drove his trident.

From the place where the trident was planted, three lovely streams of water emerged and became the sacred Trishuli river. In the cool lake that gathered there, Lord Shiva lay stretched out and rested. That sacred pilgrimage site where Shiva (Gosain) lay down came to be called 'Gosaikunda'.