In Hindu Puranas, Durvasa also known as Durvasas , was an ancient Rishi, the son of Atri and Anasuya. He is known for his short temper. Hence, wherever he went, he was received with great reverence from humans and devas alike.
According to local tradition in modern Azamgarh, Durvasa’s Ashram or hermitage, where many disciples used to go to study under him, was situated in the area, at the confluence of the Tons River and Majhuee rivers, 6 km north of the Phulpur Tehsil headquarters.
His one famous temple called Rishi Durvasa Temple is located in village-Aali Brahman, tehsil-Hodal, dist.-Palwal, Haryana (Hodal is on the Delhi-Mathura road from where the village and the temple is located at some distance). Notable thing is that , durvasa is a cobbler by profession.
According to Chapter 44 of the Brahmananda Purana, Brahma and Shiva once got into a heated quarrel. So violent was Shiva’s rage as a result of this quarrel, that the devas fled from his presence in fear. His consort, Parvati, complained that Shiva was now impossible to live with. Realising the disharmony his anger had caused, he decided to deposit this anger into Anasuya, the wife of sage Atri. From this portion of Shiva deposited into Anasuya, a child was born, who was named ‘Durvasa’ (lit. one who is difficult to live with). Because he was born of Shiva’s anger, he had an irascible nature.
The Bhagavata Purana gives a somewhat different account of Durvasa’s birth. In this version, Atri performed severe penance to propitiate the Supreme Being in order to obtain a son by Anasuya who would be just like Him. Pleased with him, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva blessed the sage that portions of themselves would be born as his sons. In due course, Anasuya bore Soma(Brahma’s incarnation), Dattatreya (Vishnu’s incarnation) and Durvasa (Shiva’s incarnation).
