Rupeshwar Mahadev Mahadev is one of the manifestations of
Shiva. Information about this form of Shiva is found in the Skanda Purana.
Roopeshwar Mahadev Shivling is worshipped at Singhpuri in Ujjain . It is one of the 84 Mahadev Temples in Ujjain.
Information about Rupeshwar Mahadev is rare and what little
we know is found in the Skanda Purana.
Shiva as Rupeshwar is associated with giving beautiful form. Offering prayers will make women beautiful and men handsome. It is also believed that those who offer puja here will attain Shivlok after death.
This is a very small shrine with a Shivling and Nandi facing
it.
Story of Roopeshwar Form of Shiva
Once there lived a king named Pankh. During a hunting expedition,
the king was lost in the forest and ended up in an Ashram. Here a beautiful
girl received the king. She introduced herself as the daughter of Sage Kanva.
The king was smitten by the heavenly beauty of the girl and
asked her to marry him.
The girl told the king that he had to wait for her father to
return as only he can give her hand in marriage.
The king was impatient and asked the girl permission to
perform Gandharva Marriage.
The girl agreed and the marriage was consummated.
Sage Kanva returned and when realized what had happened; he
cursed the king and his daughter to become deformed and ugly.
The couple asked for forgiveness. Sage Kanva was overpowered
by fatherly love. He asked the couple to immediately to go Mahakal forest and
perform pujas and austerities to a Shivling located north of Pashupateshwar
Mahadev.
The couple performed pujas as told by the Sage and regained
their previous form. The girl become more beautiful and the king became even
more handsome.
As the king and his wife regained their natural form, the
Shivling came to be known as Roopeshwar Mahadev.