Choti Kashi - Gola Gokaran Nath Temple

Quote of the Post: "Gola Gokarannath Temple truly attracts millions of devotees of all religions, castes and creed from all over the world and deserve to named as Choti Kashi." - Quote about 'Gola Gokarannath Shiv Temple' (शिव मन्दिर) by Sachin Kumar Gupta

Gola Gokaran Nath Temple is a Hindu temple in Gola Gokarannath, Uttar Pradesh, India and is also known as Shiv Temple of Gola Gokaran Nath. This temple dedicated to Lord Shiva (Shankar). The Gola Gokaran Nath is also called Choti Kashi. This temple is quite anicient, and presently an important and active pilgrimage site of the Hindus and attracts long lines of devotees daily. Teerth-Kund at Shiva Temple is having a new big Shiva idol, which will make its mark in UP and India's tourist places. 

It was a holy occasion of Pathik's Mundan ceremony (Tonsure ceremony). We left from Shahjahanpur at 10 AM since we had to reach Gola Gokarannath as per plan. We were in a big group of 15 family members to visit Gola Gokarannath temple. Gola is about 65 km from the city of Shahjahanpur, about 35 km from Lakhimpur and about 150 km from Lucknow.

As soon as we reached the temple, the echoing sound of ringing bells is simply amazing, and gives goosebumps. People chanting 'Bum Bum Bhole', 'Jai Bhole', 'Om Namah Shivaya' at this place. There are many decorated shops nearby, and small market. It is a beautiful place to conduct religious ritual, though many place need improvement. Anyone can enter the temple premises and its inner chambers. Last visit was with Manish when I visited in 2008. I took some time during evening to capture sunset overlapping with crescent moon on the head of Lord Shiva. Few other photographs were also taken, specially Pathik's mundan ceremony ones. 

The legend says that when the churning of oceans - Samudra Manthana - took place in the month of Shravan, fourteen different types of rubies came out. Thirteen of these were distributed among the daemons, except Halahal (poison). Lord Shiva drank the Halahal and stored it in his throat. Hence the name Neelkantha (meaning blue throat) is attributed to Shiva. To reduce the strong effect of poison, Lord Shiva wore the crescent moon on his head. All the Gods, thereafter started offering the Ganges water to Lord Shiva to make lessen the effect of poison. Since, this happened in the month of Shravan, since then the Shiva devotees offer the Ganges water in this month.

This pilgrimage continues to visit this place throughout the year. It is estimated that during Shravan month, around 10 to 15 lakhs pilgrims visit Gola Gokarnnath dham. 

Festivals at Gola Gokaran Nath:

Saavan Mela: The importance of Gokarnnath dham increases during the month of Shravan (during July–August every year). During this period, the kanwarias first take a dip in the teerth sarovar (pond) to purify themselves, and then enter into the temple, where the Ganges water is offered to the Jyotirlingam. 

Chaiti Mela: In the month of Chatra (April) a great fair is organised for one month known as Cheti-Mela. All nearby areas are decorated quite well during that time. 

Maha Shivratri Mela: During this period, lakhs of devotees throng the Holy Shiv Temple. 

Bhoot Nath Mela: Shiva devotees offer the Ganges water, flowers, and sweets to the Shiv. Personally I feel that milk offering to the shivaling should be avoided, and can be offered to needy people. I am happy to see that many people understand that, and few temple priest also insist not to offer milk on top of shivaling. 

Important Places To Visit (In and near main Shiv Temple):

• Budhe Baba Temple
• Chandrabhal Baba Satsang Sthal
• Gokaran Nath Dwar
• Gokaran Nath Shiv Temple
• Kartikeya Dwar
• Maharshi Ved Vyas Yagya Mandap
• Mata Parvati Satsang Sthal
• Mela Sahayata Kendra
• Nath Baba Dwar
• Nath Vatika
• Neelkanth Teerth Maidan
• Radha-Krishna Temple
• Ram-Janaki Temple
• Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple
• Shani Temple
• Teerth Sarovar Dwar
• Teerth Sarovar
• Vinayak Dwar
• Vishwanath Satsang Sthal
• Vishwakarma Temple

Other Famous temples in Chhoti Kashi (Shiv Nagari):

• Bhootnath temple
• Gajmochan Nath temple
• Kalesh Haran Temple
• Lakshmanjati Temple
• Mangla Devi Temple
• Phool Baba Ashram
• Tedenath Temple
• Trilokinath Temple

We had great time here with Pathik and full family, and everyone felt blessed.  

Om Namah Shivaya

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Grishneshwar Temple and Jyotirlinga Aurangabad

Grishneshwar temple, sometimes referred to as the Ghrushmeshwar Jyotirlinga (linga of light) or Dhushmeshwar temple, is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned in the Shiva Purana. This is the smallest Jyotirlinga temple in India. Ghrishneshwar Temple is one out of five Jyotirlingas situated in the state of Maharashtra. This pilgrimage site is located in Ellora (also called Verul), less than a kilometer from Ellora Caves – a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is about 30 km from the city of Aurangabad, about 250 km from Pune and about 300 km from Mumbai. Enjoy the drive from whatever way you are reaching Aurangabad. 

We got up at early morning 5:30 AM since we had to reach Aurangabad as per plan, and first in the list was to visit Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga temple visit with Tanuj and maa. Tanuj also had fun while driving our new Dzire. Here we reached entrance of Grishneshwar temple at around 12 at noon. This temple is presently an important and active pilgrimage site of the Hindus and attracts long lines of devotees daily. Anyone can enter the temple premises and its inner chambers, but to enter the sanctum sanctorum core (garbha-ghrya) of the temple, the local Hindu tradition demands that men must go bare chested. We were quite surprise to see it, and respected that. One can touch the jyotirlinga here and perform abhishek through Pandits/Purohits.

The Grishneshwar Temple was constructed by Ahilyabhai Holkar who also re-constructed the Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Varanasi, UP and the Vishnu Paada Temple at Gaya Bihar. There is a court hall inside which is built on 24 pillars. We watched few carvings summarizing various legends and mythologies of Shiva on these pillars. The feeling inside the Garbhagriha is simply amazing. The temple was quite peaceful and calm with very less crowd. As we visited on a weekday, so we had ample time inside Garbhagriha. There is a Nandikeshwara (Nandi bull) in the court hall. The temple houses carvings and sculptures of many Hindu gods and goddesses. 

The temple is made up of Red stone and looks artistic. Photography is not allowed inside temple premises, so we took few photographs from back side and outside areas. You need to keep all your belongings outside only. Better keep your mobile/cameras in your hotel room or vehicle or deposit in the locker which is at the side of the temple gates. We also had a glance at Shahaji Raje Samadhi which is located just besides the Temple. There is small market outside which sells items for worship and handicrafts at very nominal costs. It was one of most peaceful and less crowded jyotirlinga I have ever seen and know. After that we headed for Daulatabad Fort and then Bibi ka Makbara (Mini Tajmahal).

Near by places of interest: 

Ellora Caves, Aurangabad

Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad

Sai Baba temple, Shirdi

Daulatabad Fort, Aurangzeb Tomb, 

Bibika Makbara (Mini Tajmahal)

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Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga near Bhorgiri MH

Quote of the Post: "Bhimashankar is definitely God's unique creation worth visiting for jungle lovers, trekkers as well as devotees." - Quote about 'Bhimashankar Maharashtra' - Sachin Kumar Gupta 

Bhimashankar is a wildlife sanctuary. In the heart of this is Bhimashankar temple (Bhimashankar Shiv Mandir) which is one of the 12 Jyotirlings of India. This temple is very famous in Pune and people from all around the world come to visit this temple. Many devotees visit this place almost every year. This was my second visit here and the serenity and spirituality remained intact. It is overcrowded on weekends and Mondays of Shravan month. My last visit was during weekend, however couldn't visit the main temple due to long queue. Still with an awesome weather, we enjoyed the place with Meenal, Anmol and Anshul. 

This time, i.e. during my second visit, we visited on Tuesday to get sometime inside the temple and ample time to visit the main Jyotirling place. The condition of the road is good and best time to visit is during monsoon (July - Sep). Though any time of the year is good to visit Bhimashankar. With clouds touching your feet and scenic views all over, it's a delight to visit this place. Bhimashankar Temple, located in the village of Bhorgiri. It is approx 3-4 hours drive from pune (130 KM) and 4-5 hours from Kalyan, Mumbai (180 KM) and 5-6 hours from Nashik (210 KM). 

Don't forget to carry an umbrella and also some good anti-skid footwear. It really gets very slippery while climbing up and down the steps. Ghats are really good for trekking and road-trip. You will also get colorful bodycover polysheets in monsoon (20-30 INR per sheet). One drawback is the temple is overcrowded and a lot of mismanagement happens for parking on weekend and Sravan month Mondays. You may also have to walk 1-2 km on the roads from parking during peak timings. Once you reach main entry point named and tagged as 'Shree Kshetra Jai Bhimashankar', you'll have to step down nearly 300+ steps to reach main temple. But steps are well built so that nobody have any difficulty in walking through the steps. For the old age and sick peoples there are some arrangements of palki with reasonable rates.  

The temple has the Nagara style architecture, however one cant capture it in lens as Photography is strictly prohibited inside the temple. Don't forget to see a giant 17th Century bell inside the temple. We were also happy to see two Nandi closely. You can also have waterproof cam specially if visiting during monsoon. It is also the origin place of river Bhima. At times during monsoon, visibility becomes almost zero with fog all around. It is the beauty of the place, which makes you feel so heavenly. We enjoyed rain and fog the whole time during both our visits.  

Three worship services are offered every day. Mahashivratri is a season of great festivity here. Temple schedule is as follows:

04:30 AM Kakada Aarti

05:00 AM Nijarup Darshan

05:30 AM Regular Pooja,Abhishek starts

12:00 PM Naivedya Pooja (No Abhishek inside)

12:30 PM Regular Pooja,Abhishek starts

03:00 PM Madhyan Aarti (No Darshan for 45min)

04:00 PM to 9.30 PM Shringar darshan (No Abhishek inside)

07:30 PM Aarti

09:30 PM Mandir Closed

Note: Except Monday, Pradosh, Shravan Mass, Mahashivratri - Present Abhisheka (Abhishek inside temple ) till 2.00 PM.

On Monday, Pradosh, Shravan Mass, Mahashivratri - Present Abhisheka (Abhishek inside temple ) till 6.00 PM

Once you are out of the temple after visit the jyotirling, you can also hike towards the hills behind the temple, where we took a short trip during our first visit. We found streams of natural falls that wipe away journey's fatigue. Places that can be visited in are Hanuman Lake, Gupt Bhimashankar, Origin of River Bhima, Nag Phani, Bombay Point, Sakshi Vinayak and a lot more. The picturesque beauty of the place cannot be captured with mix of rain, fog & mist weather, and done justice using a camera for sure. During stair-way, there are many vendors selling yummy crispy hot vada pav, corns, fresh sweets and other snacks. We had lunch at Natraj Restaurant, which had good quality food with decent price. (The place is 10 KM away from Bhimashankar temple)

The other Jyotirlinga shrines in Maharashtra are Vaidyanath near Parli Dist Beed, Trimbakeshwara near Nashik, Grishneshwar near Aurangabad and Aundha Nagnath Temple in Hingoli. One day visit to Bhimashankar clubbing one of the places nearby and during monsoon to explore nature at it's best. 

Recommendation: You can also visit Lenyadri caves at Junnar or Ozar Astivinayak temples or Shivneri fort and come back by Narayangaon Nasik Pune highway.

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