In2-MeC

Satara, Maharastra, India
20 April 2004

Visit to Mahabalesvara

As I write this we are preparing to leave Satara for Pune. This morning at 7:00 AM we drove up into the hills above Satara to a holy place called Mahabalesvara. At this place two demons, Mahabala and Atibala, were killed by Lord Visnu and Lord Siva after a battle that lasted thousands of years. At a temple whose history can be traced back thousands of years, the Mahabalesvara Sivalinga is worshiped. This linga is very unusual; if one can say it looks like anything within recognition, it resembles a meteor embedded in the earth. Although photography of the Mahabalesvara linga is forbidden, we managed--with the permission of the friendly priest who was on duty during our visit--to obtain a picture of it.

A short walk from the Mahabalesvara temple is the holy place where five sacred rivers spring from the rock of a cave. These rivers are Gayatri, Savitri, Koyna, Venna and Krsna. At the shrine established in the cave, the waters of these rivers flow from a cow's mouth so that pilgrims can sprinkle their heads with it or take a full bath.

A few kilometers from the Sivalinga temple and the shrine of five rivers is Mahabalesvara City. This is a hill station that the British established during their rule of India. Many of the buildings are from that period. There's a quaint atmosphere to the place. The cultivation of strawberries was introduced by the British in these hills; since India's independence, strawberry fields forever have been maintained. Served with whipped cream, they are a delicious testimony to the fact that all things foreign in India are not necessarily bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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