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Left to Right: Holi celebration of colors, Lake Nakki,
Interiors of the Temple, Mount Abu
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Mount Abu was the home of many saints and sages
in the old days. Legend has it that all the 330 million gods and
goddesses of the Hindu pantheon used to visit this holy
mountain. It is also the place where the great saint Vashishth
lived and performed a yagna (sacrificial worship on a fire pit)
to create four Agnikula (four clans of fire) to protect the
earth from demons. The yagna was supposed to have been performed
near a natural spring, which emerged from a rock shaped like a
cow's head.
According to another legend, once sage Vashishth's cow Nandini
was trapped in a deep gorge and could not free herself. The sage
appealed to Lord Shiva for assistance. The Lord sent Saraswati,
the divine stream, to help flood the gorge so that the cow could
float up. Vashishth then decided to ensure that such mishaps did
not occur in future. He asked the youngest son of Himalaya, the
king of mountains to fill the chasm permanently. This he did
with the assistance of Arbud, the mighty snake. This spot came
to be known as Mount Arbud and was later changed to its present
form - Mount Abu.
This place is held in reverence by Jains as well since Jain
scriptures record that Lord Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankar
(spiritual leader), also visited Mount Abu and blessed the city.
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