Bhimashankar Temple

One of the twelve Jyotirlingas and one of three in Maharashtra (alongside Trimbakeshwar and Grishneshwar), Bhimashankar sits deep in the Sahyadri range near Khed, about 110 km from Pune, at an elevation of roughly 930 metres. Shaiva tradition holds that Shiva took the fierce form of Bhima Shankara here to destroy the asura Tripurasura, who had grown invincible through penance and conquered the three worlds; the exertion of that battle is said to have produced the sweat that became the Bhimarathi river, which flows from the site. This origin story is devotional narrative rather than documented history.

The temple’s built history is better attested from the 18th century, when Nana Phadnavis, a powerful minister in the Peshwa administration, funded construction of the sabhamandap (assembly hall) and shikhara (tower) in a style blending Nagara and the regional Hemadpanthi idiom; Chhatrapati Shivaji is also recorded as having granted the nearby village of Kharosi to support the shrine. The temple’s forested setting, now protected as the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary, adds an ecological dimension to its pilgrimage significance, drawing both devotees on Maha Shivaratri and trekkers exploring the Sahyadri highlands.