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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Prati Shirdi Sai Temple, Kiwale, Shirgaon near Pune

Quote of the post: "All actions result from thoughts, so these are thoughts that matters."

Across different regions of India, there are numerous God and Goddess and their dedicated temples in Hindu religion. Everyone can't always visit the main sacred place. So some of the Indian states are building the replicas of major Hindu temples such as:
Replicas of 12 Jyotirlingas at Siddhesvara Dham, Sikkim
Replicas of Char dham at Namchi, Sikkim
Replicas of 51 Shaktipeeth at Ambaji, Gujrat.
Replica of the most famous Tirumala Venkateswara Temple (Tirupati Balaji) at Narayanpur village near Pune.
Other replicas of famous monuments and major places of pilgrimage such as the Taj Mahal and Replica of Angkor Wat Temple in Bihar are under construction.

 

Near Pune we have replica of Shirdi Sai Baba temple named "Prati Shirdi Sai Baba Temple" near Kiwale, Shirgaon. If you have limited time and still want to visit Sai temple near Pune, this could be right place. For us, It was a short and half day trip from Pune. The way to reach to temple is pretty easy, it is near to Somatane toll plaza on NH4 (Mumbai Pune old highway). From Pune, It is reachable within 1 hour and from Mumbai within 2-3 hours depending on starting point.
Address: Prati Shirdi Sai Temple, Kiwale, Shirgaon, Maharashtra

At the time when we visited, there was not much crowd at this temple unlike Sai Temple at Shirdi. Even during the weekend, there were limited people, and within 5-10 minutes we got to see the replica of the Shirdi idol inside. No photography is allowed inside the temple, though Sai Idol is pretty visible once you are inside the temple.

After the visit don't forget to have prasadam at Anna Chatralaya. It is being served around 12-3, we had the same here as well. This place in itself is beautiful, and all the color carvings are pretty amazing all around. The temple follows most of the rules and procedures like in main Sai baba temple, Shirdi.

We were with Amit and Paresh's family during this trip, We had few photographs during the 'Parikarma Marg' & children also enjoyed this place. We relaxed here for an hour. Near the back door of the temple, there are few shops, where one can buy souvneirs and also have snacks. Just outside of the temple, and near to main entrance there are quite many shops, and small market, that make this place more lively. As per current situtation, parking space seems to be good enough. After that we proceed to "Birla Ganpati Temple" which was pretty visible from the NH4 expressway toll.

Other World Famous Replica Visit: We have visited "Mini Siam" - "The miniature world", place with most of the wonders at one place named "Mini Siam" in Pattaya, Thailand. We had a couple of hours around Mini Siam with a quick tour of most of the landmarks of Thailand and replicas around the world.

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