Guru Shikhar Dattatreya Swami Cave Temple Mount Abu Rajasthan

Name : Guru Shikhar Dattatreya Swami Cave Temple

Location :

Gurushikhar holds the honor of being not only the highest peak of Mount Abu but the whole of Aravali mountain range, Situated at a height of 1722 meters from the sea-level, Gurushikar provides a breathtaking panoramic view of Mount Abu town and green aravali range.

Description :

You will hardly find a place in Mount Abu which does not have a temple or hermitage nearby. Gurushikhar is no exception.

Before you reach the peak, you will find the temple dedicated to Dattatreya. The literal meaning of the name can be explained thus: Atreya means son of Atri, the sage from Hindu mythology. Datta in Sanskrit means given. Dattatreya, according to Hindu belief is the son given to the sage Atri and his wife Anasuya by the trinity, Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. The peak is dedicated to Guru Dattatreya and hence the name of the peak, Guru Shikhar.

The temple is believed to house the foot prints of Dattatreya and devotees feel blessed by darshan (sighting) of these footprints.

Within the temple you can also see footprints of Swami Ramnath, the seer who enshrined the statue in the Raghunathji temple in Mount Abu. This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and is an important pilgrimage place for the Vaishnavites, that is, devotees of Lord Vishnu.

After reaching the peak, at a little distance to the northwest, you will also find a temple dedicated to Ahilya, who was Dattatreya’s mother.

On the peak, there is a huge bell with inscription 1411 A.D. The original bell has had to be replaced with a new bell in recent times because of disintegration of the old one. The sound of the bell is carried to a long distance and is very captivating.

Historically speaking, King Prithviraj Chowhan is believed to have travelled along this peak to meet his bride and consummate his marriage with her. The bride was the princess of Prahladanpur, now known as Palanpur.

Places Near by :

– Mount Abu observatory is located nearby and can be sighted from the peak of Guru Shikhar. The observatory belongs to the physical research laboratory and houses a 1.2 m infra-red telescope which enables people manning it to keep an eye on the nation’s borders with neighbouring countries. Astronomical research is also carried out in this place.
– Achalgarh fort is about 7 km away.
– Peace park is also about the same distance.
– Delwara jain temple is about 10km from here.
Things to do

– Shop for souvenirs.
– Pilgrimage to Dattatreya temple
– Picnic at the top of the peak
– Capture the beauty of the surroundings in photographs.
Additional information

Duration : 1 hour for reaching the top and coming back, all vehicles are reachable.
Parking : Plenty of free parking space available.
Location : It is at a distance of about 15 km from the town centre.
How to reach : Rent a taxi or take a two-wheeler and travel along the Delwara-Achalgadh road to reach the base of the mountain. From here, you need to climb about 300 steps to reach the peak.
Good for : The adventurous as well as the spiritually inclined. Although it is a steep climb, the steps are in good condition throughout and can be negotiated with relative ease unless you have a medical condition. The shops alongside, with their display of a variety of wares, help to distract the mind from the tedium
and rigor of climbing the hill.

Websites :
http://www.abutimes.com/guru-shikhar-mount-abu/ 

Kalo Dungar, Kutch Gujarat

Name :
Kalo Dungar or Black Hill

Location :

Kalo Dungar is the highest point in Kutch, Gujarat, India, at 462 m. It is located at 97 km from District headquarters of Bhuj and 25 km from nearest town Khavda. It is best to visit Kala Dungar before sun down to avoid getting lost on the secluded roads leading to these hills. A day trip from Bhuj to Kala Dungar is more than sufficient to explore around the hills. Two ranges are available in the Black Hill: Kala Hill and Gora Hill (White Hill). Kala Hill is the northern hill and Gora hill is the southern hill.

Legend :

As per the legend and local beliefs when Dattatreya walked on the earth, he stopped at the Black Hills and found a band of starving jackals. Being a god, he offered them his body to eat and as they ate, his body continually regenerated itself. To mark this phenomenon a temple was built honouring the sacrifice of Lord Dattatreya.

In order to continue this practice, the temple priests over the last four centuries have been feeding the jackals every day at noon. To mark the start of the feeding session the priest intimates the jackals by banging on a plate with a huge spoon.

To this date there has never been a single recorded incident of these wild jackals harming any human near the temple area. Plenty of travellers visit the Kala Dungar every noon to witness this unnatural event. Because of this, for the last four centuries, the priest at the temple has prepared a batch of prasad, cooked rice, that is fed to the jackals after the evening aarti.

Another legend is that, Kala Hill was named after a saint whose face was blackened by the cruelty of a woman’s wicked eye.


Description :

This is probably the only place in Kutch from where a panoramic view of the Great Rann of Kutch is possible. Since it is located very near to the Pakistan border, there is an Army post at the top; beyond here, only military personnel are allowed.

The Kalo Dungar is also famous for a 400-year-old Dattatreya temple where the main deity is that of Lord Datatreya who is considered to be an incarnation of the Hindu holy trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

There is one dharamshala as an accommodation option for people who wish to spend a night where only basic food such as rice, roti, dal and vegetable are available.

Another attraction on the way to Kala Dungar is the magnetic field where one can stop their vehicle at a specified spot and witness the vehicle moving against the gravitational force, up the slope at a speed of 20 km per hour. The team of experts from the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA), and Institute of Seismological Research, Gandhinagar and Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur studied the phenomenon. It is concluded that the vehicle hurtle down fast due to the more gradient of the slope.

Kala Dungar gives a panoramic view of the Great Rann of Kutch which adds to the beauty of these magnificent hills. It is a must visit destination for anyone visiting Kutch. Sunsets are most cheering of all, as the temperature drops and the crying of the winds take over, once the sun dips into the land.

Websites :

http://thelandoutthere.com/the-legend-of-the-black-hills-kala-dungar-gujarat/

Renuka Mata Temple, Mahur

Name :  Renuka Mata Temple Mahur

Location :

Mahur is the abode of the goddess Renuka, mother of Parshuram, an incarnation of Vishnu. The place is in Kinwat about 130 km away from Nanded in Maharashtra.

Legend :

The legends of Renuka are contained in the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa and in the Bhagavata Purana.

Early life

Renuka raja (father of Renuka) performed an yajna — a ritual performed to maintain peace and good health. He was blessed with a daughter, who originated from the fire of this yajna. Renuka was a bright and active child and became the most beloved child of her parents.
When she was eight, Agastya, who was the guru of the Renuka Raja, advised him to have his daughter married to Jamadagni when she reached maturity. Jamadagni was the son of Ruchik Muni and Satyavathi and had obtained the blessings of the gods by performing severe penance. Renuka and Jamdagni Muni lived in the Ramshrung mountains, near the present day Savadatti area of Belgaum district. Renuka helped the Jamdagni Muni in all of his tasks of performing various rituals and puja. Gradually she became close and dear to Jamdagni.

Later life

Renuka would wake up early in the morning to bathe in the Malaprabha River with complete concentration and devotion. Her devotion was so powerful that she was able to create a pot to hold water made only of sand, one fresh pot every day. She would fill this pot, on the bank of the river and would use a snake which was nearby, turning it into a rope-like convolution and placing it on her head, so that it supported the pot. Thus, she brought the water to Jamdagni for his rituals of oblation. ("Renuka" is derived from the Sanskrit for "fine grain of sand".)
Renuka gave birth to five sons: Vasu, Viswa Vasu, Brihudyanu, Brutwakanwa and Rambhadra. Rambhadra was the youngest and most beloved, gaining the favour of Lord Shiva and Parvati and hence called Parashurama (the sixth incarnation of Vishnu).

One day when Renuka went to the river, she saw Gandharva spirits playing. These were young couples carelessly frolicking in the water with abandon. For a moment, she lost her concentration and devotion and fantasized about playing in the river with her husband. She wished she and her husband had such fun sometimes too, living so close to such a beautiful place. After some time, Renuka came to her senses and cursed herself for her indiscretion. She hurriedly bathed, as she had lost precious time, and tried to create the pot, but was unable to as she had lost her concentration. She even tried to catch the snake but it disappeared. Disappointed by this, she returned to the ashram in shame. Seeing Renuka returning empty-handed, Jamadagni became furious and angrily ordered her to go away.

After being cursed by her husband, Renuka went east and sat in the forest to meditate. In her penance, she met with the saints Eknath and Joginath; she prayed to them and asked to gain the mercy of her husband. They first consoled her, then instructed her to follow their advice exactly as told. They told her to purify herself, first bathing in a nearby lake, and then to worship a Shivalinga, which they had given to her. Next, she should go to the nearby town and beg for rice from the houses (this ritual, called "Joga Bedodu", is still carried out by women during a particular month in Karnataka). After collecting the rice, she was to give half to the saints and cook the remaining half, adding jaggery, partaking of the cooked rice with full devotion. They said that if she performed this ritual for three days, she would be able to visit her husband on the fourth day.

Punishment and resurrection

Jamadagni was still furiously angry with Renuka and ordered his sons to punish their mother. One by one, four of them refused flatly. Jamadagni, who possessed the power to burn anyone to ashes with his one look, was so angry that he went berserk and turned four of his sons into four piles of ashes. Parashurama, who was not there when this happened, found his mother weeping by the piles of ashes when he arrived and his father was still raging mad. Jamadagni told him what happened and ordered him to behead his mother for her infidelity. Parushurama had to think quickly. Knowing his father's powers and the extent of his anger, Parashurama immediately obeyed his father, using his axe.
His father then offered a boon to Parushurama, who asked for his mother and brothers to be brought back to life. To everybody's astonishment, Renuka's spirit multiplied and moved to different regions. Renuka was back as a whole too. This miracle inspired her sons and others to become her followers, and worship her.

Renuka vs. Yellamma

In many traditions, Renuka and Yellamma are taken to be two names for the same goddess. However there is also an oral tradition that distinguishes between the two. According to these tales, Renuka fled to a low-caste community when her son Parushurama was coming to kill her. He found and beheaded her, along with a low-caste woman who had tried to protect her. When he later brought them back to life, he mistakenly attached the woman's head to Renuka's body, and vice versa. Jamadagni accepted the former as his wife Renuka, while the latter remained to be worshipped by the lower castes as Yellamma, the mother of all. Matangi, Renuka, and Yellamma are all names of the Goddess of the lower castes.

Legend 2 :

About the goddess Renuka the following anecdote is told.

Renuka was the daughter of the king Renu of Kubaj country and the wife of the sage Jamadagni. When the king Sahastrarjuna paid a visit to Jamadagni in his abode, he was taken by surprise by the hospitality of the sage. When asked about the same, the sage told him that it is all because of the Kamadhenu, i.e., cow that fulfils the desires of the owner given to him by Indra, the king of the Gods.

Thinking that if the Kamadhenu was in his possession he would be able to maintain his vast army easily, the king Sahastrarjuna tried to seize the Kamadhenu from the sage by farce when his request to hand over the Kamadhenu to him was turned down by the sage. In the scuffle that ensued the sage died and his wife Renuka was injured due to 21 wounds she had received at the hands of the king. At this juncture many soldiers appeared on the scene from the body of the Kamadhenu by divine magic and farced the king to retreat.

On coming to know of the above incident Parasuram, the son of Jamadagni who rushed there vowed to defeat and punish the king 21 times. His mother asked him to cremate his father. He carried his father and mother to Mahur and cremated his father there. His mother became a sati.

The religious rites were conducted on this occasion by the God Sri Dattatreya himself. However, after everything was over Parasuram was stricken by grief and at this time a voice from the heavens told him that his mother would came out from the earth but he should not look behind. Being eager to see his mother, Parasuram just saw behind far a fraction of a second to find the mother's face aver the earth. The upper facet is the present upper facet of the Renukadevi.

Renukadevi is adorned with various gold ornaments such as the golden flowers to be used as earrings, gold garlands (putal mal candrahar, jaymal, etc.), nose-ring (nath), etc.

Temple :

Mahur is amongst the four places of pilgrimage having the abodes of the three and a half goddesses that are of major significance in the state of Maharashtra. The other three are Kolhapur, Tuljapur, and Saptashrungi and Mahur is half, because it is only the head of the goddess that is visible (maybe because the body is of Yellamma).

The three important temples of Renuka mata, Dattatreya and Anasuya temple are built on three mountain ranges. Mahur is surrounded by Jungles which bear wild animals like peacocks , deers, black bears and panthers. In these forests Teak wood trees are more. 

Dattatreya Temple :

The importance of Datta temple here is that unlike other Datta kshetras where we find Padukas of Datta,the idol of Lord is been worshipped. Devotees believe that the Lord Dattatreya was born here.


Datta bhagavan is known as Chiranjeevi or the immortal avatar. So it is believed that he dwells in SOOKSHMA ROOPA or the minutest form in all his kshetras. So it is believed that Mahur is also a place where DattaGuru comes to sleep. As per the belief the saying goes that Datta Prabhu takes his NITYA SNAN (daily bath) In Meruwada Talao in Mahur, BHIKSHA(Meal served to a sadhu) at Kolhapur,BHOJAN(food) at Panchleswar and gets back to sleep in Mahur. Devadeveswar Temple is the nidra sthan of Lord Dattatreya.

Anasuya Mata Mandir :

Anasuya mata is wife of Atri Mahamuni. She is once tested by Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar to prove her loyalty towards her Husband. As per Indian mythology The trinity went to Atri’s home in his absence and asked Anasuya mata to give them Bhiksha(food). When she was ready to serve them, they insisted that she has to Serve them with a nude body. Then with her devotion and Bhakti she turned all the three into babies and fed them. Finally impressed by her devotion she was given a Boon of her choice and then she wanted all three to be her sons. That is how Lord Dattatreya took birth on Earth at Mahur and from then he had been existing on earth To bless his devotees. Anasuya mata mandir is famous at Mahur. We can get shared autos from Renukadevi temple to this place.

Renuka Mata Temple :
 
It is believed that the temple has been constructed by a Yadava king of Devgiri about eight or nine hundred years ago. The temple of Renukadevi is located on a hill top. There are carved caves in the hills around Mahur.


The main deity Head alone idol is Swayabhu. Doli facility is available for the convenience of the devotees who cannot reach the temples on the hill top.

The temple is coloured in RED colour and here BEETLE LEAVES are offered as Prasad. Here pan patta and supari are grinded as paste and offered as prasad. People believe that Mata blesses all those females who offer her beetle leaves.

Mahur is pilgrim Centre of great significance. It is considered to be one of the Shaktipith of Maharashtra. On the day of Dasara every year a very big fair is held in honour of Renukadevi.

Thousands of people come to get blessings of Renuka mata on Navaratri Festival.

Other places to visit :

1.Chinthamani Ganapathi Temple: 20 km from Yavatmal at Kalam ,Chinta mani Ganesh temple is there. It is one of the eight Ganesh temples in Vidarbha and it is the only temple where deity faces south. The temple is 20 feet below the ground level and it is said that every 12 years the temple is submersed in water comes out of the well.Chinthamnai Ganapathi ‘s anugraha is also mentioned in Shree Gurucharitra at Ganagapur temple by Sri Nrusimha saraswathy swamy to his disciples.

2. Unkeshwar: Pracheena Shiva temple. People who visit Mahur Also Visit “Unkeshwar” (50 km from Mahur; 15 km from Kinwat), which has natural sources of hot water. This sulphur rich water is supposed to have medicinal value.

Website :

http://renukamatatemple.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renuka