Shri Bhimashankar Temple Darshan (Jyotirlinga shrine)

Bhimashankar temple entrance

Our journey…

There are twelve Jyotirlinga shrines in India, out of which three are there in Maharashtra. I recently visited one of them with my friends, which is near to Pune i.e. Bhimashankar Temple. Our journey started from Pune in the morning @ 7 am and we reached Bhimashankar @ 11 am, after parking our car outside the temple premises, we joined the devotees line for darshan.

Beautiful view of greenery on both sides of the road

Bhimashankar temple

About Bhimashankar Temple (Jyotirlinga shrine)…

Bhimashankar Temple, located in the ghats of Sahyadri hills (around 125 kms from Pune). The shrine is said to be built in 13^th century but it looks fairly new, as there are places in the temple premises where few structural enhancements can be seen. It’s located in the middle of the mountain and surrounded by greenery everywhere. Like all other Jyotirlinga shrines, here also the Arti is performed thrice a day; one in early morning from 4:45 am to 5.00 am, then in afternoon from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm and the day end arti from 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

View of upper half of temple

Our journey…

We took part in the afternoon arti along with other devotees, and experienced the sheer joy and prosperity in the peaceful environment of the holy land of Shiva.

 

About Bhimashankar Temple (Jyotirlinga shrine)…

A unique bell can be seen on the exit gate of the temple (mainly the front gate), which was presented by Chimaji (brother of Bajirao Peshwa), next to which there is a small “Shani” temple; where devotees offer oil to Lord Shani Dev. Once the darshan of Lord Shiva gets done, people exit from the main gate and take blessings from Lord Shani dev and Nandi “The holy cow of Lord Shiva”. In temple premises, one can also see the Deepastambh (pillar for lamps) and the Kund where devotees take bath before darshan.

Deepastambh (pillar for lamps)

Bhimashankar temple

Sculptures on temple

Our journey…

After the final darshan we spent some time sitting there in the temple premises itself and then started our journey back to Pune. En route we took halt for sightseeing and lunch (which we bought from Bhimashankar). And after a wonderful journey, we reached Pune @ 9 pm.

Rudraksha Mala

Mini shivling

Sweet corns

Sindoor boxes

Temples near Bhimashankar:

1)      Kamaljadevi temple (Outside Shri Bhimashankar temple premises)

2)      Shri Ram Mandir (within Bhimashankar temple premises)

Kamaljadevi temple

Shri Ram Mandir

How to reach Bhimashankar from Pune:

1)      Pune -- Chakan -- Rajguru Nagar -- Taleghar -- Bhimashankar

2)      Pune -- Rajguru Nagar -- Manchar -- Taleghar -- Bhimashankar

Both the routes are very well connected and well maintained. Since the shrine is located on the hilltop, so it’s better to drive carefully by the ghats.

Best time to visit:

Best time to visit Bhimashankar is from June to February. During monsoon, people often go for jungle trek as well. Area around Bhimashankar comes under forest department and it has rich flora and fauna. So, for people who love trekking and have keen interest in visiting one of the Jyotirlinga shrines, then this is surely a wonderful Weekend getaway option from Pune.

Things to avoid: 

Though there are resorts around Bhimashankar to stay, but it’s highly recommendable to not plan a long trip. Mobile network connectivity is also very bad (or say almost nil) and unavailability of good food is also a very big problem.