GAIMUKH TEMPLE
By Rajendra Diwe :
A grand Mahashivratri festival will start from February 21 and more than 10 lakh devotees of Lord Shiva are expected to visit the place
GAIMUKH is an ancient pilgrimage centre in Tumsar tehsil of Bhandara district. This small villageissituatedonthefoothills ofSatpuda range.Thevillagehas a very sacred Lord Shiva temple knownas‘ChhotaMahadev’.The Lord Shiva temple at Pachmarhi in MP is famous as ‘Motha Mahadev’. Pachmarhi is very famous amongst devotees of Lord Shiva, but the place Gaimukh is not so famous as it isindenseforestinBhandaradistrict and people in Vidarbha do notknow muchaboutthisplace. This place is also considered as ‘Nainital’ ofVidarbha as its temperature in summerismuchless than Vidarbha. Mohd Saeed Sheikh, Founder President of Green Heritage, a multipurpose social organisation trust from Bhandara, is spreading awareness about Gaimukh in people since last 20 years.
Sheikh had written number of letters to Maharashtra Government to declare the place Gaimukhas tourist centre at last in 1996 Maharashtra Government has considered his appeal, given tourist centre in C category and sanctioned Rs 10 lakh in first phase and 50 lakh in second phase for the development of Gaimukh. “Despite the sanction, the tourism centre development never got a momentum. Though the rest house fortourists has beenbuilt but it is lacking in basic facilities,” Sheikh added. Gaimukh is famous for the ‘Gaimukh mela’ lasting for 15 days during the occasion of Mahasivarathriandisanimportant fair in this region attracted bya large number of people.
Not only people from the nearby locality but also from distant placesattendthis festival,which iscelebratedasa mark of respect toLordShiva.ThisyearGaimukh will observe a grand MahashivratriYatraonFebruary 21.The devote esreaching to Lord Shiva temple in Gaimukh are termed as ‘Poha’. The ‘Poha’ or groups of devotees of Lord Shiva have started reaching Gaimukh since last four days.
The Yatra continues for 15 days. Gaimukh is situated about15km away from Bhandara town. Devotees have to go to Tumsar and from Tumsar via Mitewani they could reach to Gaimukh. ‘Poha’ consists of Nandibail (sacred bull), tunes of musical instruments like Halgi and flute and group of devotees wearing yellow coloured clothes chant‘Har Har Mahadev’ when they travel towards Shiva temple. Mohd Saeed Sheikh talked about the history of Gaimukh. According to him, “In ancient period a Rishi had a penance in jungle near Gaimukh. The rishi was a devotee of Lord Shiva and Lord Shiva blessed him with somepowers.Peoplehaveafaith that holy Ganga appeared here through Cow’s mouth, hence, it is famous as Gaimukh. The Gaimukh yatra is continuing since 175 to 200 years.
Raghuji RajeBhonsalefromNagpurcame here and Subhedar of Bhonsale from Bhandara Yadavrao Pande started this yatra.” Sheikh also pointed out that Panchamukhi Bhola Shankar temple at Gaimukh was one amongstthe18mostsacredtemplesofLord Shiva in India.Apart from Panchamukhi Bhola Shankartemple,thepremisehas temples of Lord Hanuman, Ambabai,Gorakhnathetc.There is a small road going on the hill top. This hill top is known as Chaurya Gadh. Devotees go to Chaurya Gadh, perform pooja and reach to a natural cave on themountain. Thiscaveisknown as ‘Parvaticha Vivar’. The natural cave is made up of the combination of granite and silica. The cave has two tunnels of 80 feet length. Idol of Goddess Parvati is placed in the cave.