Dip in the Divinity pool

Pandharpur – Tuljapur – Akalkot – Gangapur

Its better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times ……Asian proverb

I am not a very religious person, but the streak of inquisitiveness pulls me to the religious places. Of all the commercialization, cheating and fooling one thing common amongst all the people irrespective of Caste, creed and age that brings them together is Faith. A belief that a divine supreme force does exists which is much beyond what a human being or technology can understand.

pilgrims resting after a tiring day

My trip to Pandharpur was a unplanned one with no reservations and no agenda. Before embarking on any trip i usually research on the places which includes their history. Actually story telling sells in India and every religious place in India is bound to have a story, which i have tried to capture here.

Pandharpur

This is not the image of the temple, but of idols kept for photography at the Bhima river

I took a night bus to Pandarpur and reached around 5.30 a.m. after a nine hour journey. After getting freshened went for Vithoba temple.

One saint Pundalik who was busy serving his parents when Lord Vishnu knocked the door, instead of answering he threw a brick and told Lord Vishnu to stand on the brick till he is done with taking care of his parents. Impressed by his devotion to his parents, Lord Vishnu granted his boon to stay in Pandharpur. Till today, lord Vishnu stands on the brick and hence the name Vithoba / Vitthala which means the one standing on the brick “vitha means brick in Marathi”.

In the Sanctorium you also have Rakumai who is consortium of lord Krishna in a separate temple. They say she is doing her penance hence is not together with lord Vithoba. You can also see temple of Radha and Satyabhama.

Before entering you would notice the entrance called Namdev Payri which means “Namdev’s steps”. Saint Namdev prayed lord Vishnu that he does not want Vaikunth but aspires to get dust from the feet of all the devotees who come and visit him and wishes to become the step of doorway to the temple.

Namdev Payri

After darshan, as you step out you can see people moving towards Chandrabhaga river or also known as Bhima river. The story of the river is also very interesting. Lord Shiva fought with a demon called Tripurasur and during the fight lord Shiva perspired heavily which took the form of the river and started flood on earth. The villagers prayed to lord Bhairav who is the guardian of this village and he became very angry on the river and was about to destroy. Bhima river in turn prayed to lord Vishnu who assured her protection only if she flows through Pandharpur without making any noise. As the river circumambulates Pandharpur like half moon the river derived its name as Chandrabhaga.

Glimpse of Chandrabhaga river

Pundalik Temple

Here you get to see the temple of Saint Pundalik who played a lead role in bringing lord Vishnu to Pandharpur. The temple is situated at the banks of the river and you have water till your ankle even as you enter the temple. During rainy season, this temple is  submerged in river. But if you look at it now it does not seem to have aged or withered even after having faced the harshness of the river.

Beware of all the Pundits in this temple…they will ask if you are married, if you have baby, what work you do, you have problems or no problems, they have mantras and poojas for every thing sometimes in name of your parents or baby or work. Indians being usually sentimental shell up money and these pundits feast on the trust. So just ignore and say you don’t have loose money and move ahead…they will say they will give loose money just don’t pay any heed and move.

Vishnupad Temple

Then I proceeded to Vishnupad temple which is again situated at the other side of the river bank in Gopalpur village. Immersed in the river, even this temple is submerged in water during rainy season. From the name the temple means feet of lord Vishnu.

The temple is small with marks on a rock. It is believed that they are foot marks of lord Krishna and a cow. It is believed that Lord Krishna had come to visit Pandhapur with his cows and the marks on these rocks are his footsteps. During Margshirsha month lord Vishnu leaves pandharpur and comes and resides in Vishnupad temple. There is also a Narad Muni temple in the midst of the river which you can visit with the help of a Boat. It is said as Vishnu resides here, Narad Muni comes to pay his tribute to the Lord.

Janabai cha sansar

This temple is devoted to saint Janabai who was a ardent lord Vishnu devotee. Never having gone through formal school saint Janabai has composed various abhangs and is considered as a revered saint amongst various sects in Maharashtra. In the temple you can see the utensils that the saint used to cook, the places where she went and sat when she was angry and came out only when lord Vishnu came to seek her.

the location where Lord Vishnu convinced Janbai to come out

There are two more places in Gopalpur which you should go and visit that is Twelve Jyotirlinga temple and Kaikadi Maharaj Math. This math is beautifully built and huge with idols of various gods and saints and even freedom fighters on display. This is a must see as you will be amazed that in such a small village such displays do exist.

12 jyotirlingas

Kaikadi maharaj ashram

If you have time roam around Pandharpur, you can witness glimpse of old houses which you do not get to see now in most village due to modernisation.

Then I proceeded to Tuljapur, which is 113 kms away from Pandharpur. It takes around 2 hrs to reach Tuljapur. You get direct buses to Tuljapur or you go to Solapur and then change to Tuljapur. The frequency of Solapur buses is more than direct buses, hence I opted to go to Solapur and then change.

Tulja Bhawani Temple

Of the three and half shakti peeth in Maharashtra, Tulja Bhawani is a complete Shakti Peeth. Here the face of lord Sati had fallen after lord Vishnu had used his sudarshan chakra to destroy her body. Here the lord resides in the form of Bhawani means the “giver of life”. Lord Tulja Bhawani is also Kul devi of Maratha leader Shivaji who has a sword dedicated in her name “Bhavani talwar”.

You also get pass to visit the temple which is the pundits sitting outside if you do not wish to stand in a two hour line.

After the drashan it was already 3 p.m., which means had to find a place to rest. So headed to Akalkot which is 2 hours drive from Tuljapur to Solapur and from Solapur to Akalkot. You can also go Gangapur, but that would have been again 2 hours drive from Akalkot and too late for the day. So reached Akalkot and booked myself to a lodge. Being a single traveler has its own disadvantage the temple properties don’t allow single traveler a room. Though they have dormitory which is shared by male and female together.

Swami Samadhi and Swami Temple

Akalkot is the residing place of Swami Samarth who is also considered as the Third and last avatar of lord Dattatreya. Swami mainly resided in this place at the residence of his disciple Cholappa. This is place where the Saint took Samadhi. Even now the fourth generation of Cholappa takes care of the Samadhi and even shows you around the house and the things which the Saint used. In the resident, there is a well where there was no water and swami urinated and the well has till date never gone dry.

With no other agenda sat in the temple and attended evening Arti and thanking god for all the blessings of this life and getting me to embark on this journey.

After having dinner pushed off early as I had hardly slept in the entire bus journey.

Started early at 6.15 a.m. the next day. Missed the ST bus as it came early that day. So took a private car duly shared by 6 other people. It is a 2 hour journey and the roads are being built. So the roads on side of Karnataka are under construction and I would say 60% work is done. The roads on side of Maharashtra is bad and so takes a toll on your back when you travel across to Gangnapur.

My timings are usually right, so I landed on a Poornima day i.e. Full moon day at the temple. The line for the darshan of Narsimha Saraswati Swami seemed liked a never ending one. I cheated and got accomodated by a family in between, but still it took me three hours for the queue for the darshan. It is in mid way that I came to know that there is a pass system as well.

Lord Dattatreya Temple (Sri Narsimha Saraswati Swami temple)

The temple is dedicated to the Second avatar of lord Datatreya which is Narsimha Saraswati Swami temple also called Dattatreya temple. The temple falls in a Village in Karnataka and hence you can see the change in people and dialect. The legend says that the Swami still resides in the village and seeks bhiksha at five houses in the village. You can see the amount of Prasad being distributed on the way why this culture is so prevalent in this region.

At around 11.30 a.m. while I was still standing in queue the arti of swami commenced with beating of drums. Then I saw few people climbing up the rods and dancing on it. It was not normal as these people were constantly hanging on slim rods like gymnasts which normal people can’t do. I did not see any exorcism being practiced here but the localites were saying being a full moon the wrong forces who enter the temple sanctum can’t stay inside the human body. As they beat the drums for the Lord they get hurt and that’s the reason of such abnormal acts and constant fighting and curses to the Lord.

this is not a image which is clicked by me..have copied a linked of a glimpse which is available on you tube and i could witness a similar sight

I had never seen such a scene and I was spell bounded by this act and to say slightly horrified also.

While I casted my eyes on the smiling lord from the small hole, the fight in the mind did not end. If there is bad there is good, if there is dark there is light, if there is a negative force there is a positive force also…all required to maintain the balance of this world.

After Lords dharshan you can go and visit, the Audumbur tree and Ash hill. If you wish take bath in the Sangam where river Bhima and Amaraja meet. The custom is to leave the coconut in the river. With so many people doing this the river has become dirty but still faith is higher than the external factors.

You may also visit the temple where the padukas of lord Narsimha Swami is kept.

I had to go back to Mumbai the same day the buses for which are usually late in the night from Solapur. You also have buses from Akalkot, which is very early at 5.30 p.m. Instead I went to Solapur and I don’t repent. I spent my time at lord Siddheshwar temple.

Siddheshwar Temple

The temple is located at the banks of river and is beautifully built. In the evening the temple is light and nothing can beat of magnificence of the temple. The temple is kept open till 11 as usually pilgrims stay there till the last bus or train at 10.30.

The Shiva temple is constructed by a ardent devotee called Shri Siddharameshwar of Sri Mallikarjuna of Srisailam.

After a tiring journey I rested for around 2 hours and was seated in a small shiva temple in the premises. A family entered and while the family was praying, the Child would be of around 4 years came running and sat on nandi started saying tukuduk tukuduk.

Well none of the priests saw him doing this. His family saw it and I guess his grand mother freaked out more. The child was told by every one that it was wrong and lord will be angry.

The child undoubtedly got down when everyone said he has done something wrong and he started playing again. But i guess the child did not understand what he had done is right or wrong. Basically none of them gave him a reasoning power to ask why it is wrong or right.

That’s how another decade of culture and tradition begins with each child becoming brand ambassadors.