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Some of
the daily rituals performed in the temple are Dhoop Aarti, Shej Aarti,
Nitya Puja, Kakada Aarti and Mahapuja Dhoop Aarti. The major festivals
celebrated in the temple include Ashadi and Kartik Ekadashi.
Bhagvant
Temple
Bhagvant
temple is dedicated to Shri Vishnu. The uniqueness of this temple is
that, this is the only temple of Shri Vishnu all over India having Shri
Vishnu’s name as BHAGAVANT.
The temple is build in Hemadpanthi style in the year 1245 A.D. There are
four entries to the temple from all the four directions, but the main
entry is east-facing.
There is one GARUDKHAMB in front of Garbhagraha. The idol of main deity
Shri Bhagvant is in black stone having SHANKH, CHAKRA andGADA is in the
hands and picture of devotee king Ambrish below the right hand. Shri
Laxmi is on the back of Bhagvant idol. Shivlinga is there on the
forehead and marks of Footsteps of Bhrigu Rishi on the chest of the
deity.
There are old records showing the grants released by Shri Nanasaheb
Peshve in the year 1760, by East India Company in 1823 and by British
Government in 1784.
The temple management is looked after by a Panch Committee. Badves carry
out the work of daily rituals of the temple. The daily ritualsinclude
Kakada Arti, Nitya Puja, Mahapuja in the morning, Dhuparti in the
evening and Shejarti in the night.
Large no. of devotees visit during the Chaitri, Maghi, Aashadi & kartiki
(Hindu Months) Ekadashi.
During the Aashadi & Kartiki Ekadashi a large procession is taken out
covering the town with Bhagvant riding on Garuda. A CHABINA is taken out
on every full moon day.
Ritual at Sri Bhagawanta Mandir
Every morning at five Lord Bhagawanta is woken up with the Kakad arati
adorations to the accompaniment of the sound of the cymbals. Several
devotees, both men and women, attend these morning devotions. They bring
the offerings of sugar, fruits, milk, curds and butter. The traditional
honour of the Kakad of Bhagawant Mandir is with Sri Dattatreya Krishnath
Patil. The priest is particular about continuing this convention. It was
Sri Bhaurao Tatya Patil who took up the onus of Bhagawant Kakad way
back, a tradition that has been passed down the generations.
At the time of Kakad arati, the Lord is first adored with ghee lamps and
then the priest changes the cloak and offerings of fruits and sugar are
made. The lotus feet of the Lord are washed with warm water. Incense is
waved, milk offered in silver vessel and then a pancharati performed.
After this Sri Ganapati and Varun are worshipped with blowing of conch.
The priest puts a blob of butter in Lord’s mouth. Then He is anointed
with milk, curds, ghee, sugar and honey. Lord Bhagawanta is given a bath
with water showered out of His silver pail. This water is considered
equal in merit to Bhagirathi and sprinkled upon the devotees assembled.
After this follows the karpur arati and hymns and praises are sung by
the devotees. After the Lord has bathed and put on new clothes, He is
given an offering of khichadi. This is being taken care of by the local
business community— Sri Nanasaheb Budukh and Sri Balasaheb Kokate are
looking at this aspect presently.
In the afternoon, the Brahmins of town, Deshpande, Joshi, Patil,
Deshmukh etc. provide the naivedya/repast for Lord Bhagawanta. The
priests bring this from the homes of the respective families. Many are
the offerings made on occasions such as Gudi Padva, Dasera, Diwali etc.
Transport
Barshi was the original terminus of the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge Barsi
Light Railway, constructed by British engineer Everard Calthrop. The
Barsi Light Railway opened in 1897 and was extended on a number of
occasions until it reached a total length of 202 miles (337 km) in 1927.
The example of the Barsi Light Railway is regarded as having
revolutionised the narrow gauge railway system of Indian subcontinent.
The railway continued to operate as a narrow gauge railway until
conversion to broad gauge began in the late 1990s as part of Indian
Railways conversion program for all metre and narrow gauge lines.
The conversion of the narrow gauge track of the Barshi Light Railway to
broad gauge was partly completed in 2007. The converted track from Latur
to Osmanabad opened in September 2007. The converted track from
Osmanabad to Kurduvadi was opened in October 2008. The Kurduvadi-Latur
route connects Barshi to Parbhani, Solapur, Pune and Mumbai and hence to
the national rail grid. Mumbai-Latur, Pune-Hyderabad and
Pandharpur-Nizamabad trains operate on this route.
Barshi town is connected to Solapur, Ahmednagar, Beed, Osmanabad and
Latur towns by road. In the Barshi tehsil, Agalgaon, Pangaon, Vairag,
Pangri, Khamgaon, Kari, Mamdapur,Chikharde, Gormale, Kuslamb, Nari etc.,
are the important villages.
The
nearest International Airport from Solapur is
Pune International Airport,
Maharashtra, roughly four hour drive from Solapur.
Pune International Airport
is well connected to major cities by flights to Nagpur, Bangalore,
Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad & other destinations through Air
India, Air India Express, Indigo, Jet Airways and Spice Jet.
Nearest Airport:
Solapur Airport, Solapur (No
scheduled commercial air service at this time).
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