Naimisharanya takes its name from the Sanskrit word nemi, meaning the rim of a wheel, the point where Brahma's discus is said to have touched the ground. The Vayu, Varaha and Padma Puranas name this forest as the site where 88,000 rishis gathered to hear the sages recite. The Mahabharata's Adi Parva places Shaunaka's long sacrifice here, and the narration of the Puranas by the sage Suta is conventionally located in this forest.
The present sanctum is a 19th- to 20th-century reconstruction on the spot local tradition holds to be the original shrine of the goddess. Naimisharanya has also received central government funding through the Tourism Ministry's PRASHAD scheme for approach roads, ghats and visitor facilities.
