Slendid Bhimashankar

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It was my Birthday; and both, me and Rahul - my husband were on leave. Rahul had his secret plans ready for the Day. So we all set from Home on bike, me being unaware where we were travelling that day.

We traveled our way through Nashik Highway, so I thought whether he is taking me to my Mother’s home in Nashik….??? But, at Rajgurunagar we turned towards Left, and here I came to know we are going to some other place. We traveled through the small villages & Chas Kaman Dam towards Bhimashankar.

Route to Bhimasankar is a diversion from Pune-Nashik highway. Till rajgurunagar (from Pune) the road will be good after that you can't expect a smooth ride. The route was very beautiful;... The drive to Bhimashankar is splendid. You are greeted with various shades of green, yellow flowers and small streams of water flowing from the hills on both sides of the road. At places there are few rocks which add to the beauty of green. I'm sure it must be more beautiful in monsoon. You will forget the passing of time while soaking in the nature's beauty. There was a small waterfall on the way.

The Bhimashankar temple is one of the 12 original Jyotirling temples in India and is a major pilgrimage site. Bhimashankar gets its name from the two things that define its existence – the river Bhima, which originates here, and the temple of Shankar, or Shiv, which gives it importance. The temple of Bhimasankar is on a hill, there is ample parking place present outside temple. We have to climb down a long flight of stairs to reach the temple from the parking area. The way to the temple is well laid with stones and was surprisingly clean too. There are some shops on the way to Temple selling Pooja Thali, Prasad, Flowers and related things.

The temple is not very huge, rebuilt in 18^th Century by Peshwas. There is huge Nandi statue in the front of the temple. As we walked into the temple, there were very few people in the queue. Since there was not much crowd, there was no one to hurry us up. So it was a very peaceful darshan, which we had not anticipated. After the darshan we moved out to see what is around.

Bhimashankar is known as a pilgrimage place, but its location in the dense Forest makes it an ideal place for nature lovers and trekking enthusiasts. There are many easy and tough trekking trails around the temple. The trail leading to the origin of the Bhima River is a popular one. We didn't do any trekking as we wanted to reach Pune before Sun-set.

We explored a little around the temple. We took the path to the place where the Bhimashankar linga was originally found, near the origin of Bhima River. This place is called ‘Gupt Bhimashankar’. The trek is a very easy but beautiful, through the dense forests of Wildlife sanctuary. There is no shrine here, but simply a small Shiva Ling on the rocks smoothed by the passage of water over long time. This place is also home for the Shekru - Giant Indian Squirrel, but we spotted none. Bhimasankar has abundant natural beauty; you can spend an entire day here exploring the place.

We returned back to parking and started our way back home on bike. We stopped at Rajgurunagar at about 3:30 for lunch. And then we headed to Pune with loads of photos and memories of the trip and with a decision to go there again next year, during monsoon. And now that we know what to expect there, will explore more around Bhimashankar.

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Comments

[Mukesh]

Bhimashankar - 12 Jyotirlinga Temples of Lord Shiva
Bhimashankar is home to one of the 12 Jyotirlinga Temples of Lord Shiva. Nice place to visit Resort Near Pune