Dattatreya or Datta is a Hindudeity encompassing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. The name Dattatreya can be divided into two words - "Datta" and "Atreya" referring to the sage Atri, his physical father.
Various Hindu sects worship him differently. In the Nath tradition, Dattatreya is recognized as an Avatar or incarnation of Shiva and as the Adi-Guru (First Teacher) of the Adinath Sampradaya of the Nathas. Although Dattatreya was at first a "Lord of Yoga" exhibiting distinctly Tantric traits, he was adapted and assimilated into the more devotional Vaishnavite cults; while still worshiped by millions of Hindus, he is approached more as a benevolent god than as a teacher of the highest essence of Indian thought. Dattatreya is credited as the author of the Tripura Rahasya given to Parasurama, a treatise on Advaita Vedanta. He is specially worshipped on his birthday Datta Jayanti.
Dattatreya Temple is also present in many part of india. Kundapura also has a Dattatreya Temple. It is present near Chinmaye hospital. The Map below will show the exact location.
The Temple organise RSS meeting every sunday morning at 7:00 am . The Dattatreya Temple has a Doom shaped roof.[see the photo below].
The Temple is named as Shri Sachidananda Dattatreya Temple.
THE INSIDE VIEW OF THE TEMPLE.
The Idol of Dattatreya is present inside the gate.
Life of Dattatreya :
Birth
Dattatreya was born to the sage Atri, who had been promised by Parameshvara (the Almighty), that He, Parameshvara, would be incarnated as his son. Since Parameshvara subsumes all three members of the trimurti, Dattatreya is at once the incarnation of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. This is just one of the many legends related to the birth of Lord Dattatreya. In some he is not Atri's son, but Atri's descendent. Others suggest a more mystical origin of Dattatreya.
Travels
Dattatreya left home at an early age to wander naked in search of the Absolute. He seems to have spent most of his life wandering in the area between and including North Karnataka, through Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, and into Gujarat as far as the Narmada River. He attained realization at a town, now known as Ganagapura in Karnataka. The original footprints of Datta are believed to be located on the lonely peak at Girnar. The Tripura-rahasya refers to the disciple Parasurama finding Dattatreya meditating onGandhamadana mountain.
Origins
Dattatreya is one of the oldest deities. The first reference of this deity is found in epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana.
In the Dattatreya Upanishad which is a part of the Atharva Veda, he is described as being able to appear in the form of a child, madman, or demon in order to help his devotees achieve moksha, liberation from the bonds of worldly existence.
The single head for Dattatreya can be explained if one sees the Tantric traditions which prevailed in India about 1000 years back. It wasGorakshanath who changed/removed the aghori traditions and made the Nath sampradaya in the acceptable civil form of today. Dattatreya must have been a very powerful sage existing before this time and over the centuries sometime he was defined to the form of Dattatreya. The three heads have come definitely later in the last 900 years or so.
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