It is a shrine of all-India importance located in the lower reaches of the Lohit River. Thousands of pilgrims visit the place in winter every year, especially on the Makar Sankranti day for a holy dip in the sacred kund which is believed to wash away one’s sins. There is a mythological story behind this beautiful place as told by the local people. It is believed that Lord Parashuram the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu ,on the orders of his father Rishi Jamadagni(see the article on Parashuram) ,beheaded his mother Renuka with his axe. Since he had committed one of the worst crimes of killing one’s mother, the axe got stuck to his hand. His father pleased with his obedience decided to give him a boon to which he asked for his mother to be restored back to life. Even after his mother was brought back to life the axe could not be removed from his hand. This was a reminder of the heinous crime he had committed. He repented for his crime and on taking the advice of eminent rishis of that time, he arrived at the banks of Lohit River to wash his hands in its pure waters. It was a way to cleanse him of all the sins. As as soon as he dipped his hands into the waters the axe immediately got detached and since then the site where he washed his hands became a place of worship and came to be known by sadhus as Parashuram Kund. How far this story is credible is not known as not many have heard of it and neither has anyone come across it in the holy scriptures for Hindus such as the Vishnu Puran etc. Also there are many stories varying from region to region in India that describe the above incident and there are numerous temples dedicated to Lord Parashuram most of which are in Kerala. But this place attracts many pilgrims from near and far and quite a few sanyasis reside here and take care of the temple that is dedicated to Lord Parashuram.
