Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga, Pune district
- Stotram list
- No. 6
- Season
- Oct to Feb
- Railhead
- Pune Jn
- Airport
- Pune
- about 125 km
Official website: Shree Bhimashankar Devasthan (shreebhimashankar.com)
The emblem here is our own drawing. The trust’s terms prohibit reproducing its logo.
The map loads when it scrolls into view.
The story of Bhimashankar
In the Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra, at the headwaters of the Bhima, in Nagara style, with a core the trust dates to the 13th century and a sabhamandap added in the 18th.
The trust history has the demon Tripurasura performing penance in the Bhimashankar forest in the Treta Yuga. The gods approached Shiva, who with Parvati as Kamalaja took the Ardha-Narya-Nateswara form and killed Tripurasura on Kartik Purnima, which is kept as Tripuraari Purnima. The name Bhimashankar is traced to the Bhima, which the site says dried up in that war.
The trust records that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj donated the temple for its worship, and credits the 18th century sabhamandap to Nana Phadnavis. A bell of about five maunds stands near the temple. The temple blends older and newer work, which the trust attributes to the Vishwakarma sculptors of the region.
- Trust temple history page, temple trust
- Trust about the temple page, temple trust
Darshan at Bhimashankar
Bhimashankar is an active temple with a daily ritual schedule, not a monument. The free queue is the default: it costs nothing and on a normal weekday it moves well. Paid darshan, if the trust offers one, buys a shorter line rather than a different view of the linga. On festival days the paid line is often suspended entirely.
Aarti is the part worth planning around. Slots are limited, some are booked days ahead, and walk-ins are turned away once the hall is full.
The temple opens at 5:00 AM and closes at 9:30 PM, with worship breaks through the day.
Source: shreebhimashankar.com.
The trust notices that work on the sabhamandap and the stairs inside the premises limits darshan to 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM until it finishes. Where it is posted.
Darshan is currently limited to the morning window the trust posts, 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM, because of the construction in the premises.
No source read so far describes the festival queue at this temple, so this site does not describe it either.
- Trust notice on the premises work, temple trust. The notice carries no date, so treat the window as the position on the day it was read.
When the crowds arrive
Two periods are heavy at every one of the twelve: Mahashivratri and the month of Shravan.
What Mahashivratri changes at all twelve →Where to stay
Three ways people stay at Bhimashankar, cheapest and closest first.
What is around Bhimashankar
The last 30 km is a winding ghat road. Most visitors give the temple a few hours and leave the same day, which is a miss: the places worth half a day sit within a short drive, and going early or late avoids the crowd that arrives with the coaches.
- Kamalaja Devi Temple
Rules and practicalities
The trust asks visitors to bathe and wear clean clothes before entering the temple.
Bhimashankar on Mahashivratri and during Shravan runs on a different schedule with far longer queues. See the festival pages for what changes.
- No helmets, hats or other head cover inside the premises.
- The trust asks visitors not to prostrate inside the temple.
- No meat, alcohol or other intoxicants in the premises.
- No weapons and no violent or harsh behaviour inside the premises.
- The trust asks visitors not to spit, not to encourage beggars and to keep silence in the temple.
Sources for this temple: maharashtratourism.gov.in, enquiry.indianrail.gov.in, shreebhimashankar.com. What each one covers, and the date it was read, is on the darshan and booking page.
Common questions about Bhimashankar
What are the Bhimashankar temple timings?
How do I reach Bhimashankar?
Where should I stay near Bhimashankar?
When is the best time to visit Bhimashankar?
Also in the West group
The other temples in the West group, the gujarat coast and the maharashtra hills.
