Our friend and Guide – Lokesh- had well in advance drawn
out a chart listing out the temples we could find time to visit on our way to
Shirdi and Nisik/Ahmednagar. Out of
this, the first temple in the list was of course “Shani Shingnapur” which is we
covered en-route to Shirdi temple.
On reaching the temple, we were astonished to see a large
crowd inside the temple. We made a
quick pradakshan of the temple. We also
made a small token of Donation for “ Annadhaan” at this temple. Shani Bhagwan is unique here- standing in the
open – with no cover on to protect Him.
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| Shani Shingnapur |
Shani Dham, Shingnapur is
located in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra. It is said to be a Divine place
and the land of Lord Shani.
It
was very interesting to hear from our Guide that:
Shingnapur is also famous for the fact that no house in
the village has doors--only door frames. Despite this, no theft is reported in
the village. Villagers never keep their valuables under lock and key. Villagers
believe that the temple is a "jagrut devasthan" [lit. "alive
temple"], meaning that the God here is very powerful. They believe that
God Shani punishes anyone attempting theft. Few of them have only a curtain at the main entrances of the
house.
Another interesting fact is:
In January 2011, the United Commercial [UCO] Bank opened a 'lockless' branch in the village, the
first of its kind in the country, taking note of the near-zero crime rate in
the region. The local police were reported to be unhappy over this development
and that it amounted to a breach of conditions, because the Central government
of India has made it mandatory for all banks to have high security. The bank
has doors, but they will always remain open. However, it was reported by the
local legislator and the bank officials that adequate precautions were being
taken for the safety of lockers and important documents
The temple gives you inner
calm and sense of peace. The Idol of Lord Shani is kept on an elevated platform
and continuously being poured of mustard oil from top.
It is a must visit place
if you are in and around Ahmednagar or can take an easy detour while going or returning
from Shirdi Sai Baba temple.
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| The Swayambhu Idol |
There is only a simple platform on which stands the Swayambhu idol, in black stone and seeing the idol itself is an overwhelming experience.
The majestic black stone
standing as the mighty Shani here looks a simple and merciful idol. The
devotees from far and wide come here with all the devotion and offer their
prayers to pacify Shani Maharaj. There is no fee charged and no rituals to be
performed as such but offering oil to the idol is the most common thing
devotees do to please Shani Bhagwan. Unlike other pilgrimage centres, devotees
here can perform puja or abhishek or other religious rituals themselves.
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| The Majestic Black Stone - Shani Bhagwan |
Shri Dattatraya Temple and the Tomb of Sant Shri Udasi
Baba are the nearby attractions.
From Shirdi Sai Baba Temple
it is about 90 Kilometers [approx.] -- total journey takes about 1 to 1 ½
hours by road [car/van].
The management of the
Temple is Excellent.
Our next destination was to the Triambakeshwar Jyotirlinga.
It is situated in
the eastern spur of the Sahyadri and is 30 Kms. away from the pilgrimage centre,
Nashik. It is also a place of origin of the Godavari.
Through our friend and Guide-Lokesh- we were given an
introduction to the holy place called Shri Trimbakeshwar
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| Triambakeshwar Temple |
500 years back from now there was built a city which
later on became famous as Trimbakeshwar. In the period of the Peshwas regime
Nana Saheb Peshwa had instructed to construct the Trimbakeshwar temple and
developed and beautified the city of Trimbakeshwar.
There is a mountain named the Brihmagiri Mountain 18 K.M.
from the city of Nasik in the Nasik district. This is one of the parts of the
Sahayadri Vallies. The city of Trimbakeshwar is located in the bottom of this
mountain. This is a beautiful natural place with the cold weather as it is
situated 3000 ft. above from the sea. There are two different routes to get to
here. From Nasik to Trimbakeshwar, it is only 18 K.M. This route was built by
the help of Shri Kashi Nath Dhate in A.D. 871. One can easily get transport facility
from here, almost every hour.
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| Superb Architecture of the temple |
It was a marvellous sight inside the temple. The architecture of this ancient temple was
so marvellous that we were spell-bound!
There were thousands of people inside the temple wanting
to have a glimpse of the Jyotir lingam.
Finally after a short wait in the queue, there was the Jyotir lingam in
front of us- in all its splendour. We
were all very excited and stood for a few minutes inside the sanctum and prayed
for the well-being of one and all.
On the whole, the visit was a memorable one – memories
etched in our minds for a long time to come.
It was very very hot and sultry outside as it was well
past Noon time. As all of us were
feeling hungry, we were taken to a good hotel some distance away.
The afternoon meal was good and in no time, we were on
our way to the next temple visit – The
Akkal Court Maharaj Temple. This temple stands on an elevated place and we
had to climb up the steep pathway for about ½ hr. This temple is a newly built one and is under
further renovation. The structure is
very huge and all the idols like Krishna, Saraswathy, etc are truly beautiful
to see. On the whole, it was a cool,
pleasant trip up the hill.
Just before Mahasamadhi, Swami Samrath advised
one of his disciples to worship Shri Sai at Shirdi saying
that he [the Swami Samarth] would stay atShirdi in future. Many
published writings on both these Saints by different writers authenticate about
the interaction between these two Sadgurus both in the gross, and the
subtle planes.
Our
next temple to visit was the Panchavati.
Panchavati is a place of religious significane and a pilgrim spot, near the city of Nasik in Maharashtra, India. In Hindu theology and epic Ramayana, Panchvati was the place in the forest of Dandakaranya [Danda Kingdom], where Rama built his home along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman during their exile period.
Nasik is one of the most holiest places in India and is sacred as it is in this place Lord Rama along with Devi Sita and brother Laxman spent their part of the exile period and has witnessed several mythological events. It is one of the four cities which hosts Kumbha Mela which occurs every after 12 years [next is on 2015]. Legend has that during Sagar Manthan the Demigods while they tried to hide the Nector of Immortality from the demons, four drops fell onto the four location on the earth [other location are Prayag,Haridwar and Ujjain]. Thus these four places are believed to have acquired mystic power and hosts the Meha Kumbha Mela every after 12 years ["Kumbha" means "Pot of Nector" and "Mela" means festival] where dates are calculated depending upon the certain planetary positions. In the medieval era several temples where built by devotees along the bank of river Godavari.
Nasik is one of the most holiest places in India and is sacred as it is in this place Lord Rama along with Devi Sita and brother Laxman spent their part of the exile period and has witnessed several mythological events. It is one of the four cities which hosts Kumbha Mela which occurs every after 12 years [next is on 2015]. Legend has that during Sagar Manthan the Demigods while they tried to hide the Nector of Immortality from the demons, four drops fell onto the four location on the earth [other location are Prayag,Haridwar and Ujjain]. Thus these four places are believed to have acquired mystic power and hosts the Meha Kumbha Mela every after 12 years ["Kumbha" means "Pot of Nector" and "Mela" means festival] where dates are calculated depending upon the certain planetary positions. In the medieval era several temples where built by devotees along the bank of river Godavari.
The name Panchavati it got is from the five
banyan tree present in the vicinity where Lord Ram and Sita spent their exile
period. The name Nasik also has a legend, during exile period Laxman (brother
of Shri Ram) cut off Surparnakha's Nose [In Sanskrit Nose means
"Nasik"] and throws it on other side of the river Godavari [Ganga]
which then christened as "Nasik" or "Nashik". Thus on one
side of the sacred river is known as Nasik while other side where five banyan
tree is known as Panchavati. Various legends are associated with each of the
places here and it is to be noted that Lord Rama has not consecrated any of the
Idols during his exile period here though some of the priests here falsely
claims that some Shivlingams are consecrated by Lord Rama himself. Most of the
temples falls in Panchavati province where only one or two resides other side
of the river Godavari i.e. in Nasik.
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| Panchvati |
 |
| Ram Kund |
Ram Kund
As the names says it is a Kund [pond] on the river Godavari
in Panchavati where Lord Ram is said to have taken bath. It is the place where
one immerse the mortal remains [Arth] and is said to be absorbed in the river
quickly. It is also the place where according to Hindu rituals one performs
Shraddham forf their ancestors. At the
very place is the sangam of three rivers Aruna, Varuna and the Godavari.
Aruna/Varuna is said to be coming from underneath whereas Godavari flows on top
of them. It is here where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were immersed and to
commomarate the same Gandhi Memorial [the tall tower in the pic] was built
along side the bank, underneath is where Idols of Shri Ram is installed. Just
adjacent to Ram Kund is temple of Devi Ganga and Sai Baba.
Kapaleshwar Temple
Our Guide took us to the first temple namely, the Kapaleshwar Temple. This temple is Just in front of Ram Kund is the Shiva Temple called
"Kapaleshwar", Its around 250 years old and probably the only temple
in the world where Nandi Idol is not placed in front of the Shiv lingam. The
very reason is, it is at this place where Lord Shiva considered Nandi as his
master. Legend behind this is, Lord Shiva incurred a sin [Brahma Hatya] by
cutting off one of the Lord Brahma's head [fifth hea]). Shiva wandered the
whole universe and tried every possible penance to get rid of this sin but all
went into vain.
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| Kapaleshwar Temple-Nasik |
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| ShivLingam inside of the Kapaleswar Temple-Nasik |
The story behind this is that Lord Shiva by mistake killed a
cow[Gohatya]. To clean His sin, Nandi
advised Him to go to Nasik and take a holy dip in the Godavari [Ram Kund] , which he
followed and was purified.
One can
notice in this temple that there is no Nandi
because Lord Shiva accepted Nandi as his master/Guru due to his advice, which
is why we do not see Nandi Idol at its position [i.e. in front of Shivlingam].
 |
| The 5 Banyan Trees-Panchvati |
Here are the places related to Ramayana, showing
Panchavati in Rama’s journey from Ayodhya to Lanka.
It has been proposed to identify it with the modern
Nasik, because Lakshmana cut- off Surpanakha's nose [nasika] at Panchavati.
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| Rama's Journey from Ayodhya to Lanka |
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| Lakshmana cuts-off Surpanakha's nose [nasika] in Panchavati. |
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| Devottees waiting to go inside the Sita Gumpha |
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| Entrance to the Sita Gumpha |
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| Inside the Sita Gumpha |
Outside the cave is a large grove of 5 very old
Banyan trees, after which the area is named, Panchvati. Out of the five trees, one is the Ashoka Tree.
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| One of the five trees after which the place is called Panchvati |
The place has an uncanny similarity
to KabirVad in Gujarat which is also named after a Banyan
tree.
According to Hindu legends and Ramayana Rama, along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, stayed in Panchavati during their Vanvasa period. The Laxman Rekha is located in Panchavati about a kilometre away from Sita Gupha. It was from here that Ravana abducted Goddess Sita. Today this area is a major pilgrimage and tourist attraction.
Panchavati is spread across 500 acres of land.
Shri Kalaram Temple
Situated in the Panchvati area of Nashik near the
banks of Godavari River, the Kalaram temple is dedicated to Lord Ram and
is among one of the largest, prominent and the most captivating temples in the
city. Spread in a sprawling campus, the most amazing feature of the temple
is that it is totally black.
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| Entrance to the Kalaram Temple-Nasik |
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| Magnificinet Temple made of Black stone |
Its people are proud of its culture and it’s 5000 year
old tradition. Festivals such as Ganesh Utsav, Gokul Ashtami and
Rangpanchami are celebrated with full enthusiasm by the people. Previously
it was under the rule of Ashish Padhye.
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| Beautifully carved Kalaram Temple |
Built in 1790 by Sardar Odhekar of Peshwa, the entire
temple is constructed in black stones which were especially brought
from the Ramshej Mountains. It took 12 years, 23 lakhs of rupees and 2000
workers to build this beautiful temple. The only hint of any other color is
provided by the gleaming spire of the temple which is capped with 32
tonnes of gold.The main sanctum houses black stoned idols of Lord Rama, His
wife Sita and His brother Laxman. Since the image of the Lord is in black
color, the temple has come to be known as ‘Kala Ram’ meaning ‘black Ram’.
Right across the sanctum is the idol of Lord Hanuman which
is similarly black in color and enshrined in such a way that He faces His
beloved Master, Lord Rama.
The porch of the temple is decorated with pillars and
arches. Idols of Lord Vithala and Lord Ganesha can be spotted in
the surrounding courtyard.
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| Large Courtyard inside the Kalaram Temple-Nasik |
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| Ram,Laxman,Sita inside the Kalaram Temple |
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| Lord Ganesha Idol in the Courtyars of Kalaram Temple |
This temple is situated in the Kalaram temple lane. Unlike
Kalaram, Goraram is a much smaller temple and has idols of Lord Ram,
Laxman and Sita in fair hue; which is how the temple gets its name.
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| Entrance to the Goraram Temple-Panchvati |
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| Idols of Ram, Laxman,Sita in the Goraram Temple |
It makes one feel proud that we are surrounded by so many
ancient Puranaas and this definitely
makes us come alive experiencing the
ancient heritage temples of India. How
fortunate we are – to witness such marvels associated with Ramayana etc.
It was nearing 7pm as we headed back from Panchavati. It was a long stay at Panchavati and by the
time we were through , we were all very tired and hungry. We headed straight to the best Hotel in the
vicinity and had good tiffin to start with, After which, we left for Pune to
catch our Train to Chennai.
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| A journey to be remembered! |
A JOURNEY WORTH EVERY MINUTE.
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