Gajanan-shegaon Temple

Shegaon, a tiny town in the state af Maharashtra India has now become the holiest pilgrim centre of the devotees of Sant Shrestha Shree Gajanan Maharat and they refer to it as Vaikunth on the earth. It is the karmabhumi of this great saint Sant Shree Gajanan Maharaj made his divine appearance on 23-2.1878 and attained Samadhi on Bhadrapad Shukla Panchami an 8-9-1910 at the same place A temple Is built at the Samadhi Sthan Every year thousands of devotees from far and near visit this temple to pay homage. Gajanan Maharaj is prince amongst saints who first appeared in Shegaon on 23rd February 1878 A rich moneylender Bankatlal Agarwal is credited with discovering Maharaj at 12.22 p.m. while scratching food particles from abandoned patravalis to give credence to the saying that Food is Bhahma and should not be wasted. " Annam Brahmeti " is what Maharaj seemed to have expressed. Maharaj was scantily attired and made gesticulations befitting an insane person. But it is the greatness of Bankatlal who did not consider him as insane. There are different schools of thought as to the origin of Maharaj. However no one has been able to conclusively prove when and where Maharaj was born and how he came to Shegaon. According to Shri Dada saheb Khaparde, a close associate of Lokmanya Tilak, Maharaj was a erudite Brahmin from Telangana or modern Andhra Pradesh and was well versed in Vedic scriptures and knowledge . Some people have had heard Maharaj speak in Telugu dialect. Many are of the opinion that Maharaj seldom spoke and often made utterances which were cryptic which people could not immediately relate or understand. Some researchers are of the opinion that Maharaj ran away from home when a small child of 11 or 12 years . He is supposed to have born to a couple identified as Bhavaniram and Shahubai. Gana Sable is supposed to be Maharaj's name according this group.It is claimed that Maharaj was born in Thal, a hamlet close to Shegaon. It is believed that Maharaj was in the ashram of Akkalkot Swami Samartha for a few days. The young boy when on the way to Akkalkot made Swami say " Ganapati aala re aala " while playing chess, with a reference to Bal Gajanan ( Maharaj). A photo of 11 year old maharaj can be seen in Amravati in Narayan Jamkar's temple. After getting initial lessons, Maharaj was directed to go and seek training from Yashwant Deo Mamlatdar in Nasik. Maharaj is supposed to have abandoned all his clothes and ran towards Nasik. There in Nasik, Maharaj used to have several parleys with Brajabhooshan, a great devotee of the Sun God. Deo is supposed to have also put Maharaj in contact with Raghunathdas who was staying near Kapildhara . Thus a rough cut diamond was being polished to attain glitter. Maharaj imbibed lessons in Yoga sadhana, meditation, detachment and later attained tremendous prowess in Yoga sadhana under Narsing baba of Akot, a disciple of Kotashya Valli who came from Punjab to Akot in 1850. While Maharaj was performing sadhana, one Balshastri Gadge of Laad- Karanjya was impressed with the young boy and waited till he finished with his sadhana. Upon completion, Bal shastri is supposed to have invited Maharaj to Lad Karanjya in Vidhabha and Maharaj seems to have obliged. This period is reckoned as 1865when Maharaj stepped into Vidharbha as a young shining star on the horizon. Maharaj and Bal shastri went to Murtizapur and Maharaj was taken in procession from the Rly Station to Karanja. From there Maharaj suddenly disappeared putting Balshastri in a quandry . However he was traced later and brought back to Shastri's house. In Shastri's house, Maharaj imbibed finer points of Vedshastra and music. From here Maharaj went to Baggi via Chandur where he took darshan of Maniram Baba, a realised soul who hailed from Ayodhya. From here Maharaj came to Akot and spent a couple of years with Narsing baba . Narsing baba was senior in age, wearing a cloth turban and a " cloth" to cover the vital organs, carrying a stick in his hand. Narsing Baba used to live in a small hut and would wander in the thick jungles fearlessly where wild animals would wander. Perhaps his power was so large that even wild animals must have been tamed by his prowess. Gajanan Maharaj performed the yogic feet of getting the water level in the well to rise upon which Narsing Baba is supposed to have cautioned him not to demonstrate his prowess as devotees would trouble him. Maharaj used these powers sparingly thereafter . In the jungles of Akot, while Maharaj without any clothes on his body, was in deep meditation, a nomadic woman got attracted to Maharaj's strong frame and sharp features and under the act of touching Maharaj's feet, came physically close to Maharaj with a view to fufill her biological desires. Maharaj had achieved great control over His five senses and was not to be tempted by such desires - " jitendriya " that He was - just a seminal discharge of a drop rendered the dry grass scorched and turn black. This woman then realised that if the biological union with her was to really happen, she could be turned to ashes herself. She then apologised for her conduct and went away. After supervising Narsing Baba's samadhi arrangements on 28-1-1888, Maharaj is supposed to have calmed the bereaved devotees/disciples of Narsing Baba with some soothing and comforting advice and then, moved to Shegaon at the behest of HIS MASTER, Guru Swami Samartha. Narsing Baba himself had asked his devotees to turn to Maharaj when in trouble. From Akot, Maharaj moved to Shegaon in February 1888 . Devotees are requested to read Gajanan Vijay for other incidents in Maharaj's life .