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Bhimashankar Temple, Maharashtra
Locality/village : Bhorgiri
State : Maharashtra
Country : India
Nearest City/Town : Pune
Best Season To Visit : All
Languages : Marathi, Hindi & English
Temple Timings : 4:30 AM to 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Photography : Not Allowed
Bhimashankar Temple
Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga is an ancient shrine situated in the Sahyadri hills in Maharashtra. It is one of the 12 jyotirlingas, the holiest of holy shrines of Lord Shiva. It is located in Bhorgiri village, near pune. In recent times, it has gained a lot of significance as it was also declared as the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary.
The best time to visit the temple is from September to January. As bhimashankar is 3500 feet above sea level, it observes low temperatures as well as heavy showers in the monsoon season.
According to legend, a demon Tripurasura did penance in the Bhimashankar jungle ages ago in order to please Lord shiva. He hoped that by pleasing the Lord he would be given the gift of immortality. The Lord, pleased by Tripurasara’s devotion, blessed him with immortality on the condition that Tripurasara would use his boon for the welfare of the local folk and help them. In case Tripurasara forgot his vow, the Lord would be entitled to sue him in any way he deemed suitable.
As time went on, Tripurasara forgot all about his vow and began harassing the local folk as well as other deities. Chaos reigned and the deities approached the Lord to help them.
The Lord prayed to Goddess Parvati to help him. Together, in the form of “ardh-narya-nateshwar”, on the eve of Kartik Poornima, they killed Tripurasara and the day is now known as Tripurasara Poornima.
After Tripurasara’s death, his wives Dakini and Shakini approached lord Shiva, questioning their existence without Tripurasara. The Lord blessed them both with immortality.
Bhimashankar temple is a mix of old and new and has the Nagara architecture style. It dates back to the 18th century, however the Bhimashankar jyotirlinga has been referred to in our books dating as back as the 13th century. Being one of the Jyotirlinga temples, it is revered by the Shiva disciples.
There is also a shrine to Kamalaja near the Bhimashankar temple. Kamalaja is an incarnation of Parvati, who aided Shiva in his battle against Tripuraasura. Kamalajaa was worshipped with offerings of lotus flowers by Bhrama. Shaakini and Daakini the Shivaganas who helped Shiva in the battle against the demon are also honored and worshipped here.
The Mokshakund thirtha is located behind the Bhimashankar temple, and it is associated with the rishi Kaushika. There are also the Sarvathirtha, the Kusharanya thirtha where the Bhima river begins to flow eastward, and the Jyanakund.
According to the Shiva Purana, once Brahma and Vishnu had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. In order to solve the dispute, Shiva decided to pierce the three worlds as an endless pillar of light. Both Vishnu and Brahma started upwards and downwards respectively to find the end of the light. Brahma lied that he had found the end while Vishnu accepted that he could not and accepted defeat. Shiva cursed Brahma that as punishment for lying to him, Brahma would not be part of any ceremonies while Vishnu would always be worshipped.
The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity – each considered to be a different manifestation of Shiva. At all these sites, the primary image is the jyotirlingam representing the infinite nature of Shiva. The twelve jyothirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharastra, Viswanath at Varanasi, Triambakeshwar in Maharastra, Vaidyanath in Jharkhand, Nageshwar at Dwarka, Rameshwar in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar in Maharastra.
| 4.30 AM | Kakada Aarti |
| 5.00 AM | Nijarup Darshan |
| 5.30 AM | Regular Pooja,Abhishek starts |
| 12.00 PM | Naivedya Pooja (No Abhishek inside) |
| 12.30 PM | Regular Pooja,Abhishek starts |
| 3.00 PM | Madhyan Aarti (No Darshan for 45min) |
| 4.00 PM to 9.30 PM | Shringar darshan (No Abhishek inside) |
| 7.30 PM | Aarti |
| 9.30 PM | Mandir Closed |
(Except Pradosham on Monday or Amavasya or Grahan or Maha Shiv Ratri. Kartihik Month, Shravan Month – No Mukut and no Shringar Darshans).
- Kartik Poornima: It is celebrated with great enthusiasm from Kartik Ekadashi to Poornima. It was on Kartik Poornima that Tripurasur was slain by Shiv.
- Mahashivratri: Celebrated on the Krishna paksh Chaturdashi of the Magh month , it is the biggest festival, when the mountain filled with devotees, tourists and shops transforms into a large fair. The beauty of the temple is beyond any description.
- Ganesh Chaturthi: This ritual of Trimbakeshwar is completed by a devotee in 3 days. The entire ritual is conducted by the local pandits, with the main bath being held in Kushawart Teerth.
- Dipawali: This festival of lights is celebrated with faith and devotion in Bhimashankar temple
Bhimashankar by Air
The nearest International Airport is Pune Airport, roughly two and half hour drive from Bhimashankar. Pune Airport is well connected to a spectrum of cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai and Kochi via Jet Airways, Air India, Air India Express, Go Air, Indigo and Kingfisher Airlines.
Bhimashankar by Road
How to Reach Bhimashankar from Pune: From Pune one can travel through Rajguru Nagar and Manchar to reach Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary.
How to Reach Bhimashankar from Mumbai: From Mumbai travel through Talegaon and Chakan to reach Manchar and then reach Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary via Taleghar.
Travelers can reach Manchar from Nasik directly and then travel to Bhimashankar via same route as above.
Bhimashankar by railways
The nearest Railway Station is Pune Railway Station, located at a distance of 111 Kms from the city. It is linked with the cities like New Delhi, Mysore, Lucknow, Chennai, Puri and Jaipur via Udyan Express, Gandhidham Express, Mumbai Express, Mumbai Mail, Rajkot Express, Pune Shatabdi, Mahalaxmi Express and Cstm Latur Express.
Bhimashankar temple, Raigad, Maharashtra
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