Good morning.
Khandoba temple-Jejuri
At a distance of 48 km from Pune Junction, Jejuri is a town and municipality situated to the southeast of the Pune city. The town of Jejuri is renowned for one of the most pious temples in Maharashtra known as Khandoba Temple and is one of the popular tourist places in Pune.
Jejuri Khandoba Temple is dedicated to Khandoba, who is also known as Mhalsakant or Malhari Martand in the region. Khandoba is the important god worshipped by Dhangar, the oldest tribes in Maharashtra. It is believed that Khandoba is a god of Sakamabhakti, the god who fulfills all the desires of his devotees. Jejuri is popular for its old Deep Mala.
The Khandoba temple in Jejuri is built on a hill and offers good views all around. One has to climb a series of almost 200 steps to reach the sanctum sanctorum. There are various stone images of elephants on either sides of the main gateway of the temple. The entire flat plateau above the hill is surrounded by a stone pavement in the center, of which stands the Khandoba shrine.
The idol of Sri Khandoba enshrined inside the temple is simply beautiful. There are three weapons housed in Jejuri Temple, a sword, a damaru and a paral. They are very exquisite and also have historical importance attached to them. A Sword Competition is held every year at the temple, on the occasion of Dussera. The one, who lifts the sword of the temple high up, for the maximum time, is declared as the winner. It attracts people from all over the state on the occasion of Bandara festival.
Temple story:-
The Khandoba temple was built on a hill top with a fort around. The heroes were the bees and the villain was Aurangazeb. We can see a small niche housing a sivalinga and it is called as Savalaksha Bhunga, meaning that a bee worth a lakh and a quarter of coins. The story begins with Aurangazeb raiding the temple during one of his campaigns when he conquered another fort, Daulat Mangal Fort which is near to this place. He saw the Jejuri fort (which was enclosing the temple) after conquering Daulat Mangal fort. He wanted to conquer the Jejuri Fort. He reached with his army to this fort but found that sturdy gates were closed. So he wanted to break the walls of the fort and come inside. He then ordered to make a hole in the wall by putting a dynamite exactly at the place where the Savalaksha Bhunga lies now. Does Khandoba like this kind of thing to happen? Suddenly there emerged from the hole lot of honey bees one after the other in quick succession. The honey bees attacked the army of Aurangazeb with great noise covering each soldier's body completely. So the soldiers told about this to Aurangazeb. Aurangazeb was completely paralyzed. Then one of the Hindu soldier told him that Lord Khandoba is very powerful and ever vigilant to protect his devotees. He then suggested that by appearing in front of him alone, the trouble would be removed. So Aurangazeb order at once an offering of One lakh and a quarter coins to God Khandoba. When the offering was made, the honey bees disappeared soon. So Aurangazeb did not know how it happened, but realized that God was so powerful and bowed down in front of Khandoba
Khandoba temple-Jejuri
At a distance of 48 km from Pune Junction, Jejuri is a town and municipality situated to the southeast of the Pune city. The town of Jejuri is renowned for one of the most pious temples in Maharashtra known as Khandoba Temple and is one of the popular tourist places in Pune.Jejuri Khandoba Temple is dedicated to Khandoba, who is also known as Mhalsakant or Malhari Martand in the region. Khandoba is the important god worshipped by Dhangar, the oldest tribes in Maharashtra. It is believed that Khandoba is a god of Sakamabhakti, the god who fulfills all the desires of his devotees. Jejuri is popular for its old Deep Mala.
The Khandoba temple in Jejuri is built on a hill and offers good views all around. One has to climb a series of almost 200 steps to reach the sanctum sanctorum. There are various stone images of elephants on either sides of the main gateway of the temple. The entire flat plateau above the hill is surrounded by a stone pavement in the center, of which stands the Khandoba shrine.
The idol of Sri Khandoba enshrined inside the temple is simply beautiful. There are three weapons housed in Jejuri Temple, a sword, a damaru and a paral. They are very exquisite and also have historical importance attached to them. A Sword Competition is held every year at the temple, on the occasion of Dussera. The one, who lifts the sword of the temple high up, for the maximum time, is declared as the winner. It attracts people from all over the state on the occasion of Bandara festival.
Temple story:-
The Khandoba temple was built on a hill top with a fort around. The heroes were the bees and the villain was Aurangazeb. We can see a small niche housing a sivalinga and it is called as Savalaksha Bhunga, meaning that a bee worth a lakh and a quarter of coins. The story begins with Aurangazeb raiding the temple during one of his campaigns when he conquered another fort, Daulat Mangal Fort which is near to this place. He saw the Jejuri fort (which was enclosing the temple) after conquering Daulat Mangal fort. He wanted to conquer the Jejuri Fort. He reached with his army to this fort but found that sturdy gates were closed. So he wanted to break the walls of the fort and come inside. He then ordered to make a hole in the wall by putting a dynamite exactly at the place where the Savalaksha Bhunga lies now. Does Khandoba like this kind of thing to happen? Suddenly there emerged from the hole lot of honey bees one after the other in quick succession. The honey bees attacked the army of Aurangazeb with great noise covering each soldier's body completely. So the soldiers told about this to Aurangazeb. Aurangazeb was completely paralyzed. Then one of the Hindu soldier told him that Lord Khandoba is very powerful and ever vigilant to protect his devotees. He then suggested that by appearing in front of him alone, the trouble would be removed. So Aurangazeb order at once an offering of One lakh and a quarter coins to God Khandoba. When the offering was made, the honey bees disappeared soon. So Aurangazeb did not know how it happened, but realized that God was so powerful and bowed down in front of Khandoba
