There is a huge mountain range, named Sahyadri located at a distance of 125Kms from Pune district in Maharashtra, ahead of Goregaon. This range includes Bhima Shankar, Bhavargiri, and Rathachal mountains. The holy shrine of Bhimashankaram is situated on the Bhima Shankar Mountain at Dakini hill (Shikharam). Bhimashankar appears as the sixth Jyotirling in the list of 12 jyotirlingas. This beautiful temple is surrounded by a panoramic view of nature covered with lush green dense forest. This dense forest is considered as the wildlife sanctuary by the Government. The temple of Bhima Shankara was rebuilt by Nana Phadnis of Peshwa kingdom in Hemadpanthi style.
The main attraction of this temple is the Dashavatar statues. Lord Shiva’s statue is shown in the form of Ardha Narishwara (Half man and Half woman) in this temple. Continuous water flows from this Jyotirlinga is the specialty of this temple. A particular schedule is followed, every day in the worship of BhimaShankar which includes Rudrabhishek, Panchamrit snan. Lord Shiva is praised in rich words in the worship. Every day especially on Mondays, a lot of devotees flock here for Darshan of Lord Shiva. A big mela is organized every year on Maha Shivaratri festival. The natural picturesque beauty of this place is wonderful to look at.
Importance of the place
Kings, mentioned in history, like Chatrapati Shivaji and Rajaram Maharaj were known to visit the Bhimashankaram Temple during their reign. This place is considered to be the favorite place for Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath and Raghunath. A court hall, in this holy shrine, was built by Chimanji Antaji Nayik Bhinde, a Pune trader or Sahukar in 1437 AD.
Apart from the temple, there are many other places which you can be interested to visit in as like, Kamalaja Devi temple, Bombay point, the origin of Bhima river, Mokshakund, Gyankund, Gupta Bhumeshwar, SarvaAteerth, Papanasini, akhya Teerth, Vyaghrapada Teerth, Sakshi Vinayaka, Gorakhnath Ashram and Hanuman temple. Goddess Parvati temple, Kelkar museum in Pune city are important. Shri Mahalaxmi temple, very famous in Kolhapur a must visit place while visiting Bhimashankaram temple. This temple is considered as one of the Shakti peetha of goddess Shakti, the wife of Lord Shiva. While visiting this beautiful place and taking the experience of this iconic scene, people use to chant “Jaya Bheema Shankar, Jaya Bheema Shankar”. What are you waiting for? Just pack your bag and lead to the ocean of internal peace and happiness in a scenic view of green forest and beautiful temples.
