Gajanan Maharaj of Shegoan

 

Kiran has heard pravachans directly from Prof. K V Belsareji who was a disciple of Shri Gondavalekar Maharaj. When he first introduced me to Shegaon’s Maharaj, it was more of his father’s yearly routine to take the whole family for the samadhi darshan. At one of the dutta mandirs, when I could read the name of the the saints linked to Dattatreya tradition, it was evident that Gajanan Maharaj of Shegaon is indeed very famous. Any one who has visited a sizeable no. of temples in around Maharashtra has seen the famous photo of Maharaj smoking a chillum(It’s said that once a devotee coming from far flug region gifted Maharaj the chillum and insisted HIM to smoke it, Maharaj as typical of HIS, obeyed to HIS bhakta). Most of the time it would be a Dattatreya temple with Shirdi Sai Baba, Akkalkot Maharaj in the vicinity.

This year’s March visit to Shegaon, Buldhana District, Maharashtra, was as if a prasad of some past life events which unknowingly gathered the required punyas for a successful darshan.

A magnificient Ram Mandir is built atop the Samadhi which is in the basement. The temple is built using stones typical of Rajasthan area. The carvings are blameless. There is a vent from outside (while you do pradikshina to the temple) which directly gives one the Samadhi darshan. Just stepping a few steps back after Ramji’s darshan one can find wall hangings. Each of them loudly depicting a particular story in the life of Maharaj.

There are no adhoc shops which are typical of such well-known pilgrimages. The flower/prasad vendors have their defined line of shops. There was another set of neatly defined shop-line for misc items. Chappal(footwear) stand has prominent placards requesting one to avoid tips to the sevaks. Hand/Feet washing area is sufficiently large. Donation counter has been neatly marked near the office premises. Plenty of area for large havans(team-exercises), bhajans, talks, etc. What I liked most apart from the actual Samadhi is that they have preserved the bed on which Maharaj used to rest. Its next to the temple a very large hall. (In the Ram Mandir, besides the idols on the left you will find an old photo depicting Maharaj reclining on the very same bed.) On one end is the Bed. The hall is neatly divided into sections for Sadhaks to study the pothi/meditate in the august presence of the Avadhoot. An Agnikund whose flame is still on from Maharaj’s times is very scientifically preserved to guard against any natural disturbance.

The ability of the sevaks of the sansthan to understand the purpose and needs of the visitor is amazing. This shows their dedication to serve Maharaj. I found on the left side shelves – lot of the pothi(s), in the meditation hall. There was one glass shelf which moved my attention while we were going out. It contained a series of spectacles. Each of the spectacle cases had a note of the optical number. In case someone forgets their glasses and is in urge to read Maharaj’s gathas, here they are. Kudos to the management there.

Pothi translated in English is available online here.

What I could prominently gather from the visit :

1. Gajanan Maharaj was a prominent Digambar Saint of recent times. One like the great Shuka Muni – son of Vyasa. Shuka Muni’s story relating to the bathing apsaras, help us understand the greatness of such Digambar saints in winning over their mind & senses.

2. No accounts of his early life, in the likes of Shirdi Sai Baba, Bhagawan, others.

3. The temple premises is cleanly maintained by the Sansthan. The sevaks are neatly dressed in white shirt/kurtas and pyjamas. Most of them wore the typical Maharashtrian cap(topi). Every 5 meters was manned by a sevak. The premises was broomed and mopped almost all the time, so that the flowing crowd doesn’t disturb the cleanliness. I still keep these hopes that pilgrimage locations (tirtha shals) like Pandharpur, Triyambakeshwar, Haridwar land up in such able Sansthans.

Gam Gam Ganat Bote !!!

Travel from Mumbai : Amravati express leaving CST around 8:05pm worked out well. It reaches Shegaon at around 5:30am the next morning. The return travel on the same train has a scheduled departure at around 7pm. One is back to mumbai in the wee hours around 4pm. Take the temple bus waiting outside for visitors like

you or an auto(~

20)

 Stay : The temple authorities have built a magnificent residential premises just 10 mins walking distance from the Samadhi. The Sansthan’s buses ply between the station and the premises regularly. The authorities are very strict while entertaining requests for stay. People coming without families need to take appropriate permissions from officers stationed in adjacent premises. These inspectors may check among other details, if you have any genuine excuse for not getting your family along specially if you are an adult. In case the temple rooms are full or one doesn’t get the requisite authorization to stay here, there are always private lodges available around as the last resort.

Sight Seeing : Visitors to Shegaon come from all corners of Maharashtra. The temple authorities have built a huge Park of interest for families. Suraj remembered his child hood trip where they enjoyed this Park visit. Buses are arranged by the temple authorities to tour the same. The fields flourishing just a mile away from our stay promised a wonderful scenery there in.