Temples In Maharashtra
Maharashtra is an ancient land with
rich culture and traditions. This state has many famous temples that
are visited by innumerable devotees every year. Maharashtra also owns
two of the ancient rock cut temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. These
famous temples are the Elephanta Cave Temple and the Kailashanatha
Temple at Ellora.
Famous Lord Ganesha is the most respected and worshiped gods in
Maharashtra. There are eight shrines dedicated to him, which are
located around Pune. These shrines are collectively known as the Ashta
Vinayak temples. The Mahalakshmi temples at Kolhapur and Mumbai are
also famous. The city of Nashik in Maharashtra is a renowned Hindu
pilgrimage center, where many famous temples are located like the
Kalaram Temple, Kapaleshwar temple, Muktidham Temple etc.
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Elephanta Caves
The famous Elephanta Caves are major tourist attraction in this
region. The Elephanta island is located 10 km away from the Gateway of
India at Mumbai. There are rock cut temples in these caves dating back
to the 5th century BC.
The island was named by Portuguese after the statue of an elephant
near the landing area of the island. The temples on this island are
dedicated to Lord Shiva Mahadeva. These temples are rich in sculptural
content.
¤ Kailash Temple
The Kailasha Temple is situated near the village of Ellora about
30-kms from Aurangabad. This famous temple is famous for its amazing
architecture. This is the largest excavation out of 34 excavations at
Ellora, which took almost a century. The Kailash temple is carved out
of one piece of rock. It is considered as the world's largest
monolithic structure and also the most extensive rock-cut projects
ever undertaken. This temple is the venue of Ellora festival organized
by MTDC in the month of December. The Ellora festival is a celebration
of music and dance and is attended by a large number of people.
¤ Girijaatmaja Vinayak
This temple is situated on the beautiful Lekhan Hills, located along
the Kukdi River. These hills are situated on the Pune -Nashik highway
about 150-km from Pune. In Ganesh Puran (a festival) this place is
called as Jirnapur or Lekhan Parbat. The Girijaatmaja Vinayak is one
of the Astha Vinayak shrines of Maharashtra. This is the only
Ashtavinayak temple to be situated on a mountain and set in a Buddhist
cave-temple. The Girijatmaj Vinayak refers to the Ganesh as the son of
Parvati. Girija is another name for Parvati and Atamaj means son.
¤ Siddhivinayak Temple
Siddhi Vinayak temple is located at Prabhadevi in Mumbai,
Maharashtra. This famous temple is devoted to Ganesha, the
elephant-headed God of Good Fortune. The Siddhi Vinayak temple is one
of the Ashtavinayak Temples and it dates back to the 18th Century. The
highlight of temple is the right side tilted trunk of the elephant
headed God, Ganesha, which is usually tilted towards the left.
¤ Varadvinayak Temple
The Varadvinayak temple is located in the Mahad village of Raigarh
district in Maharastra. This temple is dedicated to Varadvinayk
(Ganapati or Ganesha). It is considered to be one of the Astha Vinayak
shrines of Maharashtra. It is believed that Ganesh as Varad Vinayak
fulfills all desires of the devotees. This region was known as Bhadrak
or Madhak in ancient times. A unique feature of this famous temple is
a lamp that is burning constantly since 1892 AD. There is Gomukh on
the northern side of the temple. It is a visage of a cow from which
the holy water flows. There is also a holy pond on the west of the
temple.
¤ Mumbadevi Temple
Mumbadevi Temple is located at Bhuleshwar in Mumbai. The temple is
devoted to city's patron Goddess Mumbadevi and is almost 6 centuries
old. She is regarded as Mumbai's resident deity. The city of Mumbai is
named after the Goddess Mumbadevi because the Mumbadevi temple was
once located on the site the present Victoria Terminus in the central
island which was called Mumbai.
¤ Mahalakshmi Temple
The Mahalaxmi Temple is located at the northern foot of the Malabar
Hill in Mumbai. The temple is oldest temple in Mumbai dedicated to
Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. The famous Mahalaksmi temple
has many idols of Hindu gods here and is visited by many devotees
every year. One of the festivals celebrated here is the Navaratri
festival, when innumerable devotees throng the temple to offer
coconut, flowers and sweets to the goddesses.
¤ Other Temples
Apart from these important temple, Maharashtra has many more famous
temples, present almost in every part of the state. Some of these
temples are Balalji Temple, Vrajeshwari Temple, Kapaleshwar Temple,
Dattatreya temple, Muktidham Temple, Jain Temple and the Fire Temple,
etc.
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