Bhuleshwar

One of the must see places around Pune is Bhuleshwar. This is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Located not very far from Pune, it is off the Pune-Sholapur highway and is approx 45 km from Hadapsar. Reaching there is very easy. Once you reach Hadapsar, head towards Sholapur and cross two Toll Plazas. Keep an eye for a hamlet called Yavat. Just 2 kilometers before Yavat, on your right side you would see a hillock with a temple and cellphone (or may be a TV) tower on the top.

Once on this road, you would cut through farm land and would soon start approaching the foot hill. The road travels through a ghat and eventually you start approaching the hill top. Note that the last 300-500 meters are very steep and would put pressure on your car/bike's engine. I preferred to park my car at the parking lot and walk up the hill. The same is available just at the top too once you cross this steep approach. You need to climb some stairs to reach the temple entrance then.

One at the top, you are greeted by a wonderful view from the hill top and brass bell in the temple complex.

This complex seems to be built in a fort as you can see the remains of the fort every where. The Shiva temple is told to be built during the period of 1230 AD during Yadava Rulers.

The shiva lingam itself is very unique here. The upper half can be opened up and your offerings mostly pedhas could be offered  it it. If offered in true devotion, God seems to accept it and your pedhas would be in reduced numbers. I did not attempted it but was thrilled to hear such things do happen now albeit at very rare instances.

The temple walls have beautiful carving on them through out and it reflects the heritage of our culture and the craftsmanship of that time. But there are quite a bit of disfigured statues which is told to be damaged during Aurangzeb's rule.

In all a beautiful place to relax and fulfill your spiritual quotient. Took us around 2.5 hours to reach from Kharadi and a similar time back. It turns lush green during monsoon which adds more charm to this place.