Padmalaya

Padmalaya (also known as "Prabhakshetra") is a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It lies 10 km from Erandol and 31.5 km from the district headquarters of Jalgaon . 'Padmalaya', a portmanteau word blending "Padmasya" and "Alaya", means "Home of Lotus" in Sanskrit. The name is derived from a large lotus pond that is believed to have existed adjacent to a local temple dedicated to Ganesha.

Shree Padmalaya Temple
श्री पदमालय देवस्थान
Shree Ganapati Peeths, Padmalaya (Maharashtra, India)
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
DistrictJalgaon
DeityGanesha
Location
LocationErandol
StateMaharashtra
CountryIndia
Location in Maharashtra
Geographic coordinates20.869345°N 75.392532°E / 20.869345; 75.392532
Architecture
CreatorShree Govind Maharaj
Completed1912
Temple(s)1

Other places of interest in the village includes "Bhim Kunda", a peculiarly shaped pond, and the Anjani river - located around 1 km from Padmalaya.

Religious places

Padmalaya is one of the Saade-teen (three two and a half) 'Shree Ganapati Peeth' in India. This place is regarded as the One Peeth. Padmalaya is blessed with the two Swayambhu Ganesh idols in the sanctum, named Siddhivinayaka and Riddhivinayaka. Two (Swayambhu) Ganesh idols are there. These idols consisted of Coral (Praval). One idol has its trunk (Sond) curving to the right and the other to the left.

These idols were "Swayambhu" literally meaning "self-existed". The temple is built using stone. A large pond beside the temple. This pond used to be full of lotus flowers. Hence the place got the name of "Padmalaya".

This temple is at the top of a hill. Small temples are on all sides of the main temple. The padukas of Shree Govind Maharaj are located in front of the temple. A huge bell weighing 440 kg is next to the padukas.

History

Bhimkund

According to legend, the warrior Bhim has a battle with Rakshas Bakasur and kills him. Bhim was thirsty after the fight so he hit his elbow forcefully on the ground to form a small pond of fresh water. The place is called Bhimkund and is near the Padmalaya temple. Bhimkund is beautiful, with many herbs and medicinal plants near the Padmalaya Temple Reservoir.

Pandav

The vanavas pandavs stayed in Erandol (ancient name was Ekchakranagari). They built a palace with lacquer. This is called Pandav wada and is believed to have many secret routes leading to nearby forests. This Pandav wada was later burned by Kaurav to kill Pandavs. The remains are in Erandol city.

References
    1. "Tourism". jalgaon.nic.in. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
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