Parashar Tirtha

Parashar Tirtha is a Hindu pilgrimage site located in Bahlolpur village in Indri tehsil of Karnal district, Haryana, on the banks of the former Saraswati River channel. It is traditionally associated with Sage Parashar, father of Maharishi Ved Vyasa, and is revered as the birthplace of Vyasa. The site features a temple complex, sacred kunds and ghats, and is visited for ritual bathing and worship, especially during fairs and religious gatherings.

Visitors can expect a quiet rural pilgrimage complex centered on a temple dedicated to Sage Parashar and associated deities, with sacred kunds, ghats and open bathing areas. The setting is a village landscape near the Saraswati channel with simple shrines, prayer halls and open courtyards. Visitors can walk around the temple precinct, observe worship rituals, take a holy dip where facilities allow, and experience local religious gatherings during festival days.

Parashar Tirtha is traditionally associated with Sage Parashar, a revered Vedic sage and father of Maharishi Ved Vyasa, compiler of the Vedas and author of the Mahabharata. Local tradition holds that Vyasa was born at this site on an island in the Saraswati River. The tirtha is mentioned in regional pilgrimage traditions of Kurukshetra and the Saraswati basin and has long been a centre for ritual bathing and worship.

The site holds religious importance for Hindus as a tirtha for ancestral rites, holy bathing and prayers to Sage Parashar and Ved Vyasa. It is visited by pilgrims throughout the year and sees larger gatherings during religious fairs and auspicious bathing days. The tirtha forms part of the 48 Kos Kurukshetra pilgrimage circuit and Saraswati heritage sites promoted in Haryana.