Category: Temples

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Maa Ashapuri Mata temple, Piplav, Gujarat

Journey :

The journey towards Ashapuri mata temple located in Piplav starts by passing through NH48 where you will be crossing major cities like Vapi, Navsari, Daman and the ever crowded traffic jam hotspot between Ankleshwar and Bharuch. Once you cross these busy roads and countless traffic between Ankleshwar and Bharuch, NH48 will join NE1 (National Expressway 1) which is a new 2 lane strip connecting directly to Delhi. NE1 to NE4 is under construction but the National Expressway seems to be a narrow to call it as an expressway.

The road toward piplav is a countryside road with a narrow lane which bisects the agricultural fields and lush green trees on either side of the road. This narrow stretch of road is covered with flanks of neem and banyan trees on either side of the road. There is hardly any ongoing traffic but make sure you drive between 30-40 kmph since this stretch of road has its own sharp twist and turns. You will absolutely love riding this 15-20 kms of stretch towards Ashapuri Mata temple.

To reach the temple, you will need to cross the narrow street lanes and pass through ‘Piplav Pond’ or ‘Malataj lake’ as locals call it. Once you cross this, you will find huge parking space where you can park your vehicles. You will find lot of small shops around the parking space and towards the temple which sells food and Pooja materials. As you make way towards the entrance of the temple, you will find huge gates made of sandstone with “Shubh” and “Labh” written in Gujarati on either side of the entrance and “MAA” in big fonts with Trishul passing through it. You will need to climb 14 steps made of marble and there are separate lines for both men and women. Men’s line is highlighted in red board while women’s line is highlighted in blue board. To protect the devotees from heat and rain, the administration have built a rooftop covered with green shades made of plastic and ably supported by strong stainless steel frames.

As you move further toward the sanctum sanctorum of the temple you will find the statue of lion kneeling towards Ashapuri Mata. You will need to climb 3 more steps and you will find statues of Goddess Ashapuri mata.

History :

As per legend, Lord Krishna and Arjun took holy dip in the lake near the temple and hence came the name Narnarayana lake. During exile, the Pandavas reached here at Piplav village and dreamt to install the idol of goddess. They installed idol goddess Asha and after completion of Agyat Vyaas at Virat nagar they came back to same site and installed another idol of goddess Puri and hence the name “MATA ASHAPURI”.

Description of idol :

As you look inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple you will find Ashapuri mata idols in bright red colour and with very big eyes. Ashapuri mata has long hair adorned with jewels and draped in colourful embroidered saree. The pillars around the idols are either made of gold or polished in gold paint but either way it looks pretty grand.

Food :

Just behind the temple, they have a small space with a capacity of around 30-40 people max. to have lunch. The cost of lunch is very nominal, priced at Rs.20/- per person. It’s a typical Gujarati thali but less extravagant. The thali contained 4-5 puris, mixed sabzi, rice daal and mohanthal (which is a sweet made of gram flour/ besan). The food is served in stainless steel plates and is enough to fill your stomach in one sitting. Also you will find family of cock and hen with their adorable babies moving around, so don’t forget to share a little bit of rice with them.

Overall, the temple is well built, is a must visit and is quite compact due to the space limitation but during Navratri it will be overcrowded for 9 days, so it’s better to visit during off season.

Temple timings : 06:00 AM to 08:00 PM.

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Kunjapuri Devi Temple, Uttarakhand

I have always loved the concept of temple hunt and I try to make sure to find temples in whichever place I visit. One such unique temple I managed to find was Kunjapuri Devi temple in Tehri Garhwal near Rishikesh.

History :

Kunjapuri Devi temple is one of the 52 shaktipeeths established in the region by Jagadguru Shankaracharya. It is located at a height of 1676 Mts atop hill. The legend is that Sati the wife of Lord Shiva gave up her life in the yajna started by her father. Lord Shiva passed through this place on his way back to Kailash with the dead body of Sati whose upper-half of the body fell at the spot where the temple of Kunjapuri Devi now stands. It completes the triangle of 3 sidhapeeths lying on top of mountains in Tehri-Garhwal district. Kunjapuri Devi – Surkanda Devi – Chandrabadni makes triangle of the Sidhapeeth. It’s a beautiful temple which is filled with panoramic view of the Himalayas and the valley of the Bhagirathi.

How to reach Kunjapuri Devi temple :

By Road :

Distance from Rishikesh : 25 kms approx. Hire a private cab or shared cab to reach this temple. They will charge anywhere between Rs.2500 – Rs.3000 based on the places covered and negotiations.

By Air

The nearest airport is Jolly Grant Airport, in Dehradun. The distance from Dehradun Airport to Kunjapuri Devi Temple is 39km.

By Train :

Hop a train to Rishikesh railway station and from there you can book a private cab or share on basis cab to reach this place.

Detailed explanation about the temple :

As you reach the temple, you can park the vehicle nearby. You don’t have a designated parking spot since it’s situated atop a hill. As you make way towards the steps, you will find couple of small shops which sell Pooja items ranging from Rs.20-Rs.100/-. As you move ahead, you will find a steep way to the hill with small steps which are properly shed with asbestos sheet and railings to give you support while climbing. There are around 80-100 steps that you need to climb but it’s pretty easy to climb if you are fairly healthy. You will also find a small shop midway up the climb which sells basic food items like Maggi noodles, fritters (Bhajiya), some processed foods, water bottles etc. So if you are tired, it can act as a pit stop to recharge your batteries and start the climb again. But you need to be a bit wary of monkeys here, since it’s located in mountainous area atop a hill, you will find lot of monkeys here, so be careful of your belongings and also it is advised not to feed them processed foods.

Steps to reach top of the temple

When you reach the top, you will find an entrance which has the shape of a dome and is painted in pink. You will find 2 lions carved on either side of the entrance and a big bell made of brass hanging from the top of the cemented roof. It’s here where you will get the first proper glance of the temple. It is beautifully adorned with a mixture of Red-Pink-Yellow and white paints. The temple has enough space to accommodate anywhere between 50-60 people and is properly designed. As you move ahead you will find a small entrance (photography inside the sanctum sanctorum is not allowed) which has steel gates around. You will not find any idols inside but a rock shaped “Pindi” is installed inside the temple. Along with this, you will also find Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesh idols enshrined inside the sanctum sanctorum. There is a flame which continuously burns 24*7, 365 days a year inside the sanctum sanctorum.

Panoramic views of Himalayan ranges along with temple view

There is toilet facilities for both men and women on the backside of the temple, you will have to walk 5-10 steps down. Also you have a pole which has some countries direction pointing towards various directions (it’s just a fancy spot to get some selfies). Uttarakhand tourism have done a nice job in maintaining the place and it’s one of the cleanest temple I have ever visited.

Confused and messed up selfie corner with a seating arrangement and a view 😀

You can even find a quiet place near the trees which is located next to sanctum sanctorum or you can sit behind the temple and soak in the views of snow clad Himalayan mountain ranges and meditate for hours without getting disturbed or worried.

Happy me soaking in the himalayan ranges and solitude
Tree with golden eye (sun)

Timings :

It is open 365 days a year and devotees or tourists can visit this temple from 06:00 AM to 08:00 PM. During Navratri, it will be heavily crowded, so plan your visit accordingly.

Best time to visit :

May to October is considered the best time to visit but monsoon from July-September is a bit risky to travel in hilly regions. May-June is peak season and accommodations as well as cab services will be a bit expensive. I had visited in the month of November and since it was off season, I could visit with hardly any crowd and enjoyed the panoramic views of snow clad Himalayan mountain ranges. Also off season has it’s own perks, as accommodations and costs of cab are quite cheap as compared to peak season.

Nearest places to visit :

Tehri Dam : 62 kms

Surkanda devi temple : 66 kms

Devprayag : 94 kms

Buddha Kedar : 134 kms

You can follow my travel journeys in below social media channels :

Twitter : www.twitter.com/thenomadguy

Instagram : www.instagram.com/vigneshbhat

Also if you liked the blog, do drop a follow here as well as in above social media channels. Drop in the comments section if you have visited this place or are planning to and when? If you need any help with the planning, will gladly help you.

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Shri Siddheshwar Devasthan, Gulsunde – Panvel, Maharashtra

Shri Siddeshwar Devasthan is an ancient temple established by Shri Siddeshwar sant around 1200 AD (the exact dates is not known but according to locals, it’s estimated to be around 700-800 years old). It is located on the banks of Patalganga river. It is also known as Gulsunde Shiva temple.

Bird’s eye view of Siddheshwar temple, Gulsunde

How to reach?

If you are travelling from Mumbai, follow the Bengaluru-Mumbai highway road which leads to Panvel and stay on NH48, then turn right to Pendhari onto Dand Apta road and soon you will find a small village called Rasayani. Enroute you will find Pillai HOC college of engineering and Technology (use this as landmark) and continue your journey straight until you find a small shop by the name Samarth Provision on the opposite side of the road, take a left from here. You will find a very narrow patch of cement road leading you to the temple. This is a residential area and the cement path can fit in only one vehicle at a time, so make sure you ride responsibly. There is parking space available for max. 2-3 vehicles, so make sure you check out parking spots before going all in.

https://goo.gl/maps/c54DJyBdMCfvyh1j8

Detailed explanation :

The moment you reach this temple, you will find 2 massive pillars and a very old banyan tree on the right. Just next to the banyan tree, there is a samadhi of an old saint. As you move ahead on the freshly laid patch of tar road, you will find the first glimpse of the temple sanctum sanctorum and it’s entrance.

First view of Shri Siddeshwar Gulsunde shiva temple

The entrance is adorned with nicely carved designs and logo of Swastik on both sides of pillars. on climbing the stairs, you will find 2 rooms with deities.

The room on the right has Lord hanuman carved fully from single stone and decorated with traditional orange coloured powder (orange sindoor). Lord hanuman is given more of a human form here with moustache. Just next to it, you will find, Lord Rama, Lakshamana and Lord Sita (read Ramayana to know more about them), all are made in marble statues.

Lord Hanuman
Lord Ram, Lakshman and Sita

The room on the left has Lord Kaal Bhairav again carved fully from single stone and decorated with traditional orange coloured powder (orange sindoor). Usually, you will find Lord Kaal Bhairav alone but in this temple, it is established with his wife who is adorned with orange sindoor and Mangal sutra.

Lord Kaal Bhairav with his wife

As you move ahead, you will find a small temple with sanctum sanctorum which is painted in cream colour but the foundation still remains the same. The foundation is made of small slabs of rocks, properly cut and placed without the use of cement. They have used patches of plaster here and there to curb the leaks considering it’s an extremely old temple, so it’s obvious it will have it’s fair share of wear and tear but still it has stood the test of time and major portion of the temple hasn’t been tampered with. As you move across, you will find the first view of Patalganga river with sea plants surrounding the temple along with rich flora and fauna across it. As you move towards the entrance of the temple, you will two big slabs which have two elephants and their mahouts sculpted facing towards each other. Elephants are sacred animals to Hindus and it is living incarnation of Lord Ganesh, hence you find this in most temples especially in Maharashtra. According to hindu beliefs, elephants are also considered as sacred symbols of peace, mental strength and power. As you climb the stairs towards entrance of the temple, you will observe that it is intricately designed and sculpted and you will find a small statue of Lord Ganesh in the centre of entrance (which has eroded a little over time).

Side view of Gulsunde shiva temple
Elephants with mahouts sculpted on rocks

As you move inside, you will find a huge statue of Nandi carved in a single stone and the sanctum sanctorum is delicately carved in concentric circles with utmost precision and exact dimensions and distance. You can only feel astounded and surprised as to how the sculptors back in those days carved such beautiful temples with their bare hands and their tools (which is predominantly hammers/chisel). As you move straight towards inner sanctum sanctorum you will notice two deities one either side of the pillars. For going into inner sanctum sanctorum, women need to wear traditional sarees or salwar kameez and men need to go in without their shirts. The moment you enter into the inner sanctum sanctorum, you will feel an extreme gush of positive vibrations flowing through your body. Lord Shiva is submerged in the water (it is believed the Patal Ganga river still finds it’s way to Lord Shiva). You have almost 15 bells hanging on top of Lord Shiva and Lord Parvati standing opposite to lord shiva. You can sit there and meditate for hours and get lost in an abyss communicating with Lord Shiva. As you see the inner sanctum sanctorum, you will see it’s top is also sculpted in the same way with that exact precision of concentric circles as observed in the outer sanctum sanctorum. You can offer Bael leaves and flowers to lord shiva and enjoy the solitude with the supreme god. As you sit on the stones which dates back to 1200 AD and meditate, you can actually imagine and feel part of it’s history. The stones of these temples have stood the test of time and has seen hundreds and hundreds of generations of people pray and visit it’s premises.

Lord shiva submerged in petal ganga
Statues of gods inside the inner sanctum sanctorum

As you come out of the temple, you will find an old banyan tree which is hundreds of years old and it’s roots have spread to all directions. There is ample space around here and you can sit witness the birds chirping, the river flowing calmly and the women in village going around their daily chores of washing clothes near the banks of the river. For people who like to take bath in river, this is an excellent opportunity to dive into the river (provided you are fairly good swimmer, never underestimate river currents) and enjoy natural beauty swimming around the temple.

Old banyan tree
View of Patal Ganga river
75 yo lady washing clothes on banks of Patal Ganga river.

Interesting Fact :

The temple is under the supervision of 25 families in the Gulsunde village. Each year the responsibilities for taking care of the temple and it’s daily rituals is handed over to families on a rotation basis. So a family which takes care of temple in 2022, will effectively take care of the temple again after 25 years i.e. in 2047. This tradition is followed by these families for generations now.

Timings :

Morning : 06:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Evening : 04:00 PM to 08:00 PM (sometimes closes by 07:00 PM)

During Mahashivratri, it is open for 24 hrs and is heavily crowded, so make sure you plan your visit accordingly.

Link to Twitter to read about this in a short thread :

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Kelamba Devi Temple, Kharoshi, Maharashtra

Kelamba devi temple is dedicated to Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva and is situated in a small village called Kharoshi near Pen in Maharashtra. It’s history dates back to 1608 AD. Let’s deep dive into the history of Kelamba Devi and how it came into existence.

History :

Entrance of Shri Kelamba Devi

Kharoshi village was an extremely dense forest back in 14th-15th century. It is believed that, one fine day a villager went to collect some banana leaves for worship (puja) in his house. Instead of cutting a few banana leaves, he started cutting the entire banana tree. What happened next shocked the person and the villagers. It is believed that blood started flowing from the banana tree and started dropping on the stone below. With every drop of blood, the size of the stone grew bigger and bigger. The villager panicked and informed everyone in the village. The panicked villagers immediately seemed help from a saint and informed whatever happened in that area to revered saint who lived in that village. The saint visited this place and came to a conclusion that this was a holy place and declared that ADISHAKTI resides here, which means it is OUR GOD, OUR PROTECTOR & OUR MOTHER. They called this goddess SHRI KELAMBA DEVI.

Shri Kelamba Devi

Wherever there is Goddess Parvati, there is always Lord Shiva around. In 1608, it is believed that when the villagers decided to build walls around the temple, they started cutting lot of mango trees which was surrounding the sanctum sanctorum. All of a sudden, a snake appeared and settled itself near the mango tree. This mango tree is still there near Kelamba devi.

Lord Shiva (where the snake appeared)

The beauty of this temple is, it is situated atop a small hill and once you climb 100-150 steps, you can get an absolutely stunning view of countryside village, farms and western ghats. This temple holds no gate or security. The villagers upto this day still believe in caring and sharing. They believe anybody can come and take blessings from Kelamba Devi, hence it is always open 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. You can stay inside the temple if you are stranded for the night or if you are hungry, the villagers are more than happy to share the food with strangers. You can find lots of banana trees, mango trees, cherimoya trees, canon ball trees and ball trees to name a few.

The temple is flooded with devotees during Navratri for 9 days and the Shri Kelamba Devi is decorated in 9 different sarees for 9 days. You can choose to pick a spot in the temple and worship or do your sangeet-kirtan as per your convenience.

Steps leading atop the hill where Shri Kidamba Devi is located.

Temple Structure :

The pathway to temple is a bit narrow and it passes through the village which is located near a small stream where you can find people fishing and spreading their fish nets to catch some fish and sell to the local market. You have got enough area to park your vehicles. You will be greeted with a huge gate less entrance made of concrete. As you move ahead, you will find an under construction fountain and well laid broad steps which is well built with adequate railings, so anyone in any age group can climb slowly and steadily. The steps is covered with asbestos roof from bottom to top which makes it all the more easy to climb up. If you are tired, you can also find adequate place to rest. Once you climb the steps, you will find another entrance, in which the pillar is decorated with mirrors. As you move inside, you will find Kelamba Devi covered with beautiful steel clad railings. The floor is laid with granite and is well maintained. There are bathroom facilities for both ladies and gents and with RO drinking water facility also installed nearby. To make the yatris stay more comfortable, the villagers have made sure that fans and tube lights are in working condition. The sanctum sanctorum of the temple is vibrant in colour and painted with rainbow colours.

Bird’s eye view of Kelamba Devi Temple

Map :

Kelamba Devi temple can be reached by local bus or private vehicle. It is situated around 35-40 kms from Panvel, Navi Mumbai.

https://goo.gl/maps/ALbu1RZK726CnWtf9

Kelamba Devi temple