Tristhalisetu ("The Three Holy Cities' Bridge").
Narayana Bhatta (ca. 1513–1570), a brilliant scholar, wrote
a pilgrimage tract that was meant to offer readers detailed directions for
conducting the pilgrimage ceremonies at three key sites: Allahabad, a bathing
(snana) spot at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers; Benares, a
center of culture and religious learning; and Gaya, Bihar, a famous location
for the dead's shraddha ceremonies.
The work starts with a section on pilgrimage in general,
outlining the guidelines for doing it, and then moves on to three parts
outlining pilgrimage prescriptions for Allahabad, Benares, and Gaya.
The Tristhalisetu is a prominent example of nibandhas
("collections"), a kind of commentarial literature.
The nibandhas were Hindu lore compendia in which the
compilers selected allusions to a certain topic from the Vedas, dharma literature,
puranas, and other authorized religious books, then combined these passages
into a single volume, frequently with their own commentary.
Narayana Bhatta was one of his time's most knowledgeable
men, and he was endeavoring to describe everything clearly, based on his
sources, so that people would know what to do.
Richard Salomon edited and translated the first half of this
work in The Bridge to the Three Holy Cities, 1985.
