Yogi Gajanan Maharaj


Temples

Nagzari This is lovely place / temple which is a few Kms away from Shegaon . Here lived Gomaji Maharaj - who was the Guru of Patil khandaan . Gomaji Maharaj meditated in a cave and his samadhi is also in a cave. Devotees must go to Nagzari and take a holy dip in the pond within the temple premises. Before the palkhi of Maharaj goes out of Shegaon , it is customary to first visit Nagzari and then go to other places.

Akot This place is very dear to Maharaj. It is here that Narsing Baba spent time in thick jungles meditating over the Lord and Maharaj spent initial years with Narsing baba before He came to be known as Maharaj. Akot is approx 75 kms North East of Shegaon and you will see the well on the sill of which maharaj sat dangling his legs and the water in the well gushed up. Narsingh Baba has his Maha samadhi in this place.

Mahim Mumbai An old Ram temple was reconstructed and renovated in 1994 and has been built on the lines of Shegaon mandir with Maharaj’s idol of marble being in the basement below the Ram mandir which is on the top. The idol was installed on 4-5-6 May 1995 and padukas with silver covering were laid on 21-7-194. This idol is unique in the sense that Maharaj’s hand is raised like Ganesha , giving " aashirwad " . This pose is unique and not seen anywhere. The temple is in kapad bazaar area behind Sitladevi temple near Saraswat colony Mahim in a basement. Above is Ram Mandir Late Shri Sabnis who was associated with Sri Ram mandir as trustee along with Late Sri Trimbak Samarth, Shri Gore, V. Gogate and others decided to have a temple built on Shegaon lines. Zunka bhakar is distributed on Thursdays. Every Thursday and Saturday there is chanting of Maharaj's name (namasmaran) from 6 to 7 pm. Tel No 0091-022-24440754. A monthly magazine viz Gajanan Ashish and cassettes of the Gajanan Vijay parayan in the mellifluous voice of Smt S Bapat are published by the GMSM, Mumbai. The GMSM releases an annual Diwali bumper issue and also a monthly magazine which is edited by Shri Vasant Gogate. The annual membership for the magazine is Rs 200 and the Life membership is now discontinued. The GMSM also organises trips by train from CST Mumbai to Shegaon for 2 nights and 3 days at a nominal Rs. 1500 . Those interested may contact the GMSM ( Shri Amit Velkar ) or Shri Prahlad Gore ( 022-2-8932512) or at the mandir in Mahim.

Goregaon (West) Unnat Nagar Mumbai This suburb has two temples - one in Siddharth nagar and other at Unnat nagar. The Unnat nagar temple was formed thanks to the initiatives of Shri Jhomraj, Appa Desai, Shri Paranjape,Deshpande and others on Gudi padwa day on 20-3-1996. The temple is on a height / hillock and it is worth listening to the chanting of mantras and aaratis.

Goregaon (West) Near Best Colony The Siddharth nagar temple has a very beautiful life size idol of the Guru and the darshan for every devotee is an absolute MUST. On getting darshan it is difficult to take your eyes away from Maharaj's beautiful face, penetrating eyes and artistic fingers. The eyes of Maharaj are worth going miles to see.The Home page of this site carries the image of this Idol which was made by one fibreglass specialist from Parel, Mumbai - Shri Anna Jadhav and ( Late ) Sai Jadhav. Initially the idol was consecrated and the temple was established on sakashthi day on 18^th February 1995, four days prior to " pragat din", in a house in Mitha nagar in the residence of Mrs Bharati Pramanick who had selflessly offered her house. Later this idol and temple was shifted to Siddharth nagar on 25^th Dec 1998 due to unprecedented crowds on Thurdays and Sundays. Long queues were seen for seeking darshan. This idol is worth going to miles to see the lovely idol. The Home page photo of Maharaj is from this place in Goregaon. Any good and selfless desire is fulfilled by Maharaj when prayed over here. A number of celebrities have visited this temple and all the festivals are celebrated with gaeity and fanfare. The creation of this idol is very close to the heart of the webmaster . Once the webmaster’s mother Mira was teaching her 7 year old grandson Salil, and all of a sudden she went blind. On taking Eye specialists’ appointment , normalcy was restored and asteroids in the eyes were cleared. During this visit the webmaster got to know from the Doctor about " Life like eyes ". The idol was under plaster-moulding at that time ( November/December 1994) and the webmaster got an inspiration from Maharaj that the idol must bear similar life-like eyes to improve the appearance and give it a real life look. When you see into the eyes of the idol, you cannot but makeout that they are not " real". On account of this sentiment , the eyes have a piercing and penetrating look. Maharaj had to make the late Mrs Mira ( Gokarn) blind, temporarily to "tell " his devotee to have lovely real life like eyes fitted. Mrs Mira reached at the feet and abode of the Lord on Maharaj's Pragat Divas on 23rd Feb 2001.

Bhavani Shankar road (Dadar W) This temple is on a footpath but very well covered and one feels nice when you visit this place. The idol is of approx 11 inches of marble , smoking the Chilim. This temple stands thanks to the efforts of Baba Limaye.

Badlapur (CR )( Pune route) A temple was inaugurated at Kanhor amidst scenic surroundings on 20 February 1995 . The creator of the idol is one Shri Masurkar of Ghatkopar. Trustees Shri Sripatrau Kulkarni, Dr Wagh and others.

Titwala CR ( Kasara route) On the way to the famous Ganesh temple , if you will take a right turn , you will come across a beautiful Maharaj mandir in Maanda. The Jaipur made marble statue is of 29 inches, was installed on 13 Feb 1996 after Maharaj appeared in the dreams of one Shri Dhanyakumar Mhetre to establish the temple. There was some resistance to him starting a temple in his own house so one Narkar Sheth came forward and offered two gunthas of land for temple construction. Dr Gujarathi who is a medico and runs a hospital in Titwala and Dombivali, had a dream in which Maharaj asked him to donate a marble idol after consulting Mhetre kaka. The temple was opened by Shri Ratnakar Maharaj. Abhisheka is performed every Sunday at 10 am. It is an excellent spot and every visitor to Titwala must visit here. Swami Akklakot maharaj mand! ir is also closeby. Mhetre kaka as he is called is actually a Jain but has been blessed by Maharaj and has given him darshan several times. Mhetre kaka conducts pravachan on Thursday evenings. Several of his predictions have come true. 3 days before Tsunami hit Tamilnadu on 26th Dec 2004, kaka predicted on Thursday, that there would be a watery grave and lacs would perish in the mahapralaya water. How true were HIS words ! Kaka today is in 80s , old and feeble but gets tremendous energy on Thurdays. Poor feeding is done and books and staitonery is gifted to meritorious students from the village.

Ram wadi – Jogeshwari ( east ) Credit must go to Shri Sudhakar Balapure for having established the Math for the prachaar of Maharaj and his teachings. Initially it started in small house and as crowds started to swell, Shri Balapure established the math and moved his own residence elsewhere. This GM Prachar mandal organises Pothi parayan through Smt Sumatibai Bapat , an extempore reciter of the 21 chapters every year. The palanquin from Shegaon used to visit this math every year till it used to come to Mumbai and thousands of devotees have their mahaprasad of " zunka bhakar ."There are two huge portraits of Gajanan Maharaj , and on Thursdays and Sundays Shri Balapure is on hand to help troubled devotees with his advice, which comes as an inspiration from Maharaj Himself. Many devotees swear that Kaka's advice has worked miracles for them. He normally advises to perform parayan to strengthen faith at HIS feet. He also organizes conducted tours to Shegaon.

Thane (Ram Maruti Rd) Shri Vinay Joshi , a very ardent devotee of Maharaj has devoted his own household property for the temple . Vinay Joshi conducted and participated in an 18 day padayatra to Shegaon from Thane along with five other friends/devotees. He himself is an artistic man, deals in screen printing business apart from conducting tours to Shegaon and other religious places. Vinay Joshi himself has moulded and painted the very attractive idol ( 2 ½ feet )of POP which is installed in " Kalpavruksha", his residence on Ram Maruti road.Hundreds of devotees pay their respects at this shrine and one is overwhelmed by the selflessness of the man , who has engaged a number of youngsters so that they do not swerve on the wrong path.

Vartak Nagar Thane west- In Shivai nagar A temple is established by GM trust on 14-12-1991. Various social, cultural and religious programmes are organised.

Bandra (East ) Govt Colony ( c/o Shri Deshpande) In the initial years , Shri Deshpande , a retd. Govt Officer was conducting the festivals of maharaj at his own home in Y/7, Govt. Colony , Bandra east. Soon it became inconvenient as crowds began to swell. There was a vacant , unutilised plot of land near his house and Mr and Mrs Deshpande had plans to utilise the land for constructing a temple for Maharaj. They put up a temporary shed during Navaratra in 1995 and had a desire to install a 2.5 feet (high) idol of Maharaj on Dasara day. When two days remained for Dasara , Deshpande contacted a devotee of Maharaj who directed him to go to World trade Centre . When Deshpande reached WTC , the shop was being closed and the salesman was in no mood to sell the idol as they said that it was a specimen idol and Deshpande would have to wait for a month. Deshpande then revealed his status to which the salesman gave a tight salute and not only packed the POP idol but gave it at cost price.!! The devotion of Deshpande family is worth emulating. Today there are number of hurdles that Deshpande is facing from neighbours and jealous people but he knows that Maharaj will never let him down and the work will go on undisturbed. We request devotees to rally round the couple and assist the noble cause or else hounds will gobble the land on which the temple is built. In 2003 , the temple was renovated and a beautiful marble idol of Maharaj in padmasan pose was installed . It was consecrated by Smt Sandhya Amrute , a Ganesha bhakta from Dombivali. Shri Gajanan Khasnis who knows the pothi by-heart like Smt Bapat performed a parayan here under the aegis of Gajanan Maharaj web site and yahoo groups . It was attended by 100 devotees on 22 February 2004. Devotees from Pune also came and attended this parayan sohala.

Temple in Baroda (Gujarat) There are two temples in Baroda in Gujarat. One of them is very big having big land area and is under construction, it is just about 15 Km away from Baroda, the name of the place is "Rasulabad" near Nimeta village. It can be reached on the way while going to Ajwa garden. Also there is one little temple in Salatwada area since long time and one little at Productivity road.

Temple near Ratnagiri There is a temple of Gajanan Maharaj near Palavni High School, Palavni (Taluka Mandangad) near Ratnagiri

Pimpri Chinchwad Temple A very spacious temple has been built near the industrial belt of Pimpri Chichwad in Pune with efforts of the labour class. Shri Padmakar Tambe donated a part of his property for the construction of the mandir. Thanks to the support from Shri Prasad Patil, the temple was relocated and renovated and thousands of devotees visit the temple on pragat din/nirvana din

Motey Mandir (Shegaon) - Place where Maharaj rested.		Balapur ( Place where Maharaj visited).

Sangvi Temple Pune A marvelous temple has come up recently in Sangvi near Pune and Maharaj is seen in Padmasan pose with deep karuna in HIS eyes. The space and property was donated by a daan veer businessman who does not want to be identified.

Mumbai Pune Express Highway On the way to Mumbai express highway , in Vishal nagar Pune, there is a small Maharaj temple , housed in a plot of 2 acres . The photo is seen alongside. The temple was constructed by Shri Pardeshi . Pardeshi who had medical (heart) problems was asked by Drs to immediately get valve replacement done or else it would be fatal. Pardeshi proceeded to Shegaon and pleaded with Master to allow him to perform some sewa before his time came. He returned to Pune, sold off his land and built a temple of maharaj. Few months later when he went for a routine medical check up , the Drs were shocked to find that the heart was normal and there was no need for any valve replacement !

Daund (Near Pune) Daund is a small township closer to Pune on the Pune Solapur CR route. 25 km away from Daund is the famous Ashta Vinayak Siddhivinayak temple at Siddhatek. If you take a journey by road, very close to Daund Rly station, there is a beautiful Gajanan Maharaj temple run by a trust run by one Mr Shah and group of trustees. The idol of Maharaj is flanked by a Durge devi idol and padukas in the front. The temple has a spacious compound with sanctums of Lord Shiva and Hanuman.

Malkapur The samadhi of Sri Ganga bharathi , the Gosai, who contacted leprosy and was cured by Maharaj, is in Malkapur. He attained samadhi in 1915. At the behest of Gajanan Maharaj , Ganga Bharati moved to Malkapur and set up the temple where he breathed his last. The temple is built on the lines of Shegaon with Guru Dattatreya idol on the top and in the " bhuyaar " (underground) is a beautiful marble idol of Sant Gajanan Maharaj. This temple is barely a km from the Rly station. The descendants of Ganga Bharati visit for annual festivals while they live in Savadad. His grandson Shri Datta Geer Bharati is overseeing the activities. Sri Ganga Bharti

Nasik A spacious temple courtyard near Indira nagar Nashik, near Bapu Bangla has a well planned temple amidst lovely surroundings, housing a beautiful marble idol of Maharaj, obtained from Jaipur. The temple was established in Feb 1990 by Shri Natha Sauthe and the present President is Shri Pradip Patil. The temple "kalas" was set up by Shri Kalika Maharaj of Trimbakeshwar .The temple priest Shri Damle is a devout person offering his services to the Guru selflessly. The temple committee helps poor and needy students by distributing free excercise books and clothes. Recently, Smt Sumatibai Bapat who knows the pothi byheart conducted a samudayik parayan here. Phone no is 0253- 2378443.

Nagpur Temples (Dharampeth and Reshimbaug)
An extremely beautiful GM temple in Nagpur is at Dharampeth built in 1960 and perhaps the oldest outside Shegaon The idol is simply marvellous as can be seen from the pics alongside. Smt Laxmibai Kapre took a solemn vow that she will continuously read the Gajanan Vijay Pothi till Maharaj personally comes and blesses her. ( this is in 1950s years after Maharaj left HIS mortal body ) Laxmibai had several children and a not so co-operative husband and yet she managed to perform her family duties as well as reading of the pothi . After doing one hundred continuous parayans day after day, Maharaj personally appeared and told her " aata purey , mee yeto tuzya kade " ( now enough of reading, I am coming to your house ). Thats how this beautiful idol got installed . Laxmibai descendants perform pooja and other sohalas with fanfare and devotion. If you are in nagpur , dont miss this place. Another temple built by Shri Chandrashekhar Varhapdpande is in Reshim Baug Nagpur 9 . This temple too is worth going to. Varhadpande has also been fortunate to have Maharaj's darshan in flesh and blood several times. He is a music composer and a lyricist who has penned several songs sung by Sonu Nigam, Anuradha Poudwal, Usha Mangeshkar, R Bobade, and other leading lights. Varhadpande has travelled extensively with Pundalik Bhokre and has the original photo of Maharaj given to him by none other than Dr Bhau Kavar , a few days before he passed away.

SHEGAON SANSTHAN HAS REQUESTED DEVOTEES TO BE CAUTIOUS WHILE DONATING FUNDS TO GAJANAN MAHARAJ TEMPLES AND THEY SHOULD FIRST ASCERTAIN AND SATISFY THEMSELVES ABOUT THE GENUINITY OF THE CAUSE.




SANSTHAN HAS BRANCHES ONLY AT PANDHARPUR, ALANDI IN MAHARSHTRA AND OMKARESHWAR IN MP, TRIMBAKESHWAR NEAR NASHIK IN MAHARSHTRA. IF IN DOUBT PLS CONTACT SANSTHAN AT SHEGAON ON TEL NO 07265-252018 OR BY MAIL TO THE MG TRUSTEE AND GET DOUBTS CLEARED. - EDITOR