“Teerthraj means Prayagraj”
Ko kahi sakae Prayag Prabhau? Kalush Punj Kunjar Mrigrau.
As teerathpati dekhi suhava , Sukh Sagar Raghubar Sukhu Pava.
Prayagraj is called the king of pilgrimages. It has been called the king of pilgrimages for many reasons. According to Padma Purana: “Grahanam cha yatha suryo nakshatraanam yatha shashi. Tīrthānamuttām Tīrthe Prayāgākhyamnuttām.” That is, just as the Sun is among the planets and the Moon is among the constellations, similarly Prayag is the best among pilgrimages.
Not only this, according to Goswami ji, 'Shraddha' is the better half of the king of pilgrimage because without faith, there is no result of visiting any pilgrimage. Goswami ji further tells about the prosperity of Tirtharaj: “Chari Padarath Bhara Bhandaru. Punya Prades Desh Ati Charu.” That is, it is such a virtuous state, which is full of all four pursuits (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha). Here Padarath means effort.
All the pilgrimage places under Prayagraj destroy all sins. Markandeya gives a similar description of Prayagraj to sage Yudhishthir in Matsya Purana. They say that in Prayag, sixty thousand brave archers protect the Ganga and the Sun, who rides on a chariot drawn by seven horses, takes care of the Yamuna.
According to Goswami Tulsidas, the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati is the throne of the Tirtharaja, the Akshayavat tree is his canopy, the waves of Ganga and Jamuna are pure water, seeing which sorrow and poverty are destroyed: “Sangamu Singhasu Suthi Soha. Chhatru Akhaybatu Muni Manu Moha. Chavar Jamun and Ganga Taranga. Look, there is sorrow in the hands of the poor." While returning to Ayodhya after Lanka, Lord Shri Ram, Lakshman and Mata Janaki had worshiped Ganga in Prayagraj and also had darshan of Akshayavat. Lord Shri Ramchandraji himself had found happiness after seeing such a pilgrim king.
Talking about the Panchkosi Yatra of Tirtharaj Prayagraj, the sages and saints who came to Kumbh say that this religious parikrama has been happening since ancient times after worshiping Ganga. Under Prayagraj Panchkosi Parikrama, the ancient holy places of pilgrimage of Prayagraj are circumambulated. In Prayagraj, there is the ashram of Durvasa Rishi in the east, that of Bhardwaj Rishi in the west, Pandeshwar Mahadev is present in the north and the hut of Parashar Rishi is built in the south.
According to mythological belief, the circumambulation of Prayag is considered complete only after reaching Prayagraj and visiting the holy places. After worshiping Ganga, this parikrama starts after seeing Akshayavat. In which pilgrimage places along with worship and parikrama of 12 Madhav temples have been included in the parikrama path.
