Special connection with Sambaji Nagar

 27/01/2023

Special connection with Sambaji Nagar
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After spending the weekend with my daughter and dropping her off at collethisday morning, I decided to visit temples. She insisted on staying at college for lunch and ordered me to STAY AWAY  till 5 pm.
Thanks to her, I covered the Bhadra Maruti temple at Kuldabad,  then Grishneshwar, which means lord of compassion; it is the 12th of jyotirlingas in the vicinity of Ellora caves.
Devotees usually visit Grishneshwar at the end of covering 12 jyotirlinga darshanams. Still, I started my spiritual journey with this temple, and the blessings came in abundance every time  I went to meet Shiva Parvati.
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The temple was transformed many times, destroyed, and rebuilt like many of the other 12 jyotirlingas in India.

It was rebuilt in its current form in the 18th century under the sponsorship of queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore after the fall of the Mughal Empire
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The next stop was at Ellora cave number 16.
The natural pull today came from this particular cave.
The Kailasa temple in the Ellora Caves is a megalith carved from one rock. It is considered one of the most remarkable cave temples in India because of its size, architecture, and sculptural treatment, built in the 8th century!∆
The average person like me did not know what Kailasa Temple was!
I saw it as a thirteen-year-old but wasn't wise enough to comprehend the greatness of Ellora caves, specifically cave number 16.
My father drove the family to introduce us to the caves, daulatabad fort, grishneshwar, and many other exciting places leading to Nashik and ending at Janmasthan of river Godavari in Nasik, which is also called Dakshina ganga. It is the second-largest river in India.

The Kailasa temple, in today's parlance, can be called one of the first examples of Minecraft in history.
People with pickaxes carved out a mountainside till they had a temple.
It (Cave 16) is the largest of the 34 Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu cave temples known collectively as the Ellora Caves, ranging for over 2 km along the sloping basalt cliff at the site. The architecture shows traces of South Indian carvings. It is noticeable and  notable for its vertical excavation and is  the only structure in the world that is carved from the top to bottom
The aerial view of the temple can be found on Google; it is a mesmerising sight, with goosebumps giving visual.
Every design & measurement was planned precisely, as once it was cut, there was no chance to change it by adding extra stone

This temple is from single solid basalt bedrock measuring  164 feet long and 108 feet wide. The structure will probably never be built again on Earth!
It is considered the largest Monolithic Structure in the World and can be called Wondersders of the Wonders!
I was blessed to spend half a day at the site, devouring every inch of it with my eyes.
You should see it to believe its magnanimous, enthralling, captivating aura.

Ellora caves are depicted on the new rs—20-note Indian currency.
The caves are UNESCO-declared world heritage sites.
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I had to catch hold of solo travellers to get my pic clicked and return the favour by clicking theirs.
The best shots came from the young ladies, and the worst came from middle-aged men.

I thought only my husband was poor at clicking my pics; alas, it is the same sorry story from East to West.
I asked one man
Aap bhabhi ke pictures bi itni buri lete ho kya
He said ho na, wo trass make mere saath jaati ich nai.
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I MURMURED YOU DESERVE IT!
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Gratitude.
I have always experienced an ancestral spiritual connection with this city. Every time I bid goodbye to it, considering it my last visit, the Maratha aura summons me to bestow some larger good.

#aurangabad
#elloracaves
#Grishneshwar
#kailasatemple
#mgmuniversity
#January2023