Mahabaleshwar Temple, Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra

Mahabaleshwar Temple, Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra

Mahabaleshwar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Mahabaleshwar Town, a famous Hill Station in Satara District in Maharashtra, India. The Temple is situated in Old Mahabaleshwar. It is one of the popular Mahabaleshwar tourist places.

Legends

As per legend, it is said that there were two demons brothers namely Mahabal and Atibal. Both of them were creating trouble for common people, devas and sages. All of them prayed to Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu to get rid of these demons. Lord Vishnu killed Adibaleshwar and Lord Shiva was not able to kill Mahabal as he was having the boon of will death. Hence, Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma prayed to Goddess Mahamaya for help.

The Goddess lured Mahabal and brought him to the Gods. She asked the gods to request for boon from Mahabal. The Gods asked Mahabal for his death. Mahabal granted the boon but requested Lord Vishnu to take the name of his brother as Adibaleshwar, Lord Brahma to take the name as Kotishwar and Lord Shiva to take the name as Mahabaleshwar and requested three of them to stay at Mahabaleshwar forever. The gods granted his wish. The Town Mahabaleshwar derived its name from Mahabaleshwar Temple.

History

The temple was built by Chanda Rao More in 16^th century CE in Hemadpanti architectural style.

The Temple

This temple was built in Hemadpanti architectural style. The temple is secured by a 5 ft wall. The Temple is divided into two parts namely the sanctum sanctorum and the central hall. Presiding Deity is called as Mahabaleshwar. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam. Lord is Swayambhu Moorthy and is about 6 feet tall. Lingam is in the shape of Rudraksha, which is considered to be the tip of Shiva Linga, called as Mahalingam.

The central hall houses the 300 years old articles dedicated to Lord Shiva like the Trishul, Rudraksha, Damru and a bed, believing that he still pays visit to the temple and uses them. It is believed that every morning, the bedsheet is found crumpled indicating Shiva's presence at night within the temple. There is a square shaped raised platform made of gold, believed to be given as charity by the Maratha ruler, Shivaji. It is believed that the square is equal to the weight of his mother, Jijabai.

Connectivity

The Temple is located at about 7 Kms from Mahabaleshwar Bus Stand. Mahabaleshwar is located at about 33 Kms from Wai, 66 Kms from Satara, 71 Kms from Satara Railway Station, 120 Kms from Pune, 130 Kms from Pune Airport and 231 Kms from Mumbai. Mahabaleshwar is connected by the National Highway 4. Bus services by state-run MSRTC and private organizations connect Pune, Miraj, Mumbai, Sangli and Satara to Mahabaleshwar.

Location