It is said that Lord Shiva is supposed to be taking rest here after the Trpurantaka samharam. The sweat drops of Lord Shiva got converted as steam and is now running as Bhimarati. The Bhimashankarar Lingam measures around one and a half feet and is quite narrow. The goddess that is worshipped in this temple is Kamalaja.

The story behind this Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga is that once upon a time in the place called Kamrup a great devotee of Lord Shiva by the name of King Kamrupeshwar resided. He would spend hours and days in the worship of lord Shiva. During one of these days a demon named Bhima appeared and started troubling the people.



He wanted to kill the King Kamrupeshwar. But as soon as he attacked the king, his sword fell on the Shiv linga instead of the king. Immediately Lord Shiva appeared and destroyed the demon Bhima.

Seeing this, all were jubilated. On the humble request of the gods and sages Lord Shiva agreed to reside there eternally by the name of Bhimashankar.