| The road is
closed during the five months of the rainy season, from the middle of June to the
beginning ofDecember: there is no vehicular traffic between Bhimashankar and the outer
world. There is also a route from Karjat on the Poona- Bombay section of the Central
railway. It is some where around twenty-two miles. It is accessible only on foot, is
extremely tough and is used only during the festival season. The local upadhyayas make
arrangements for the lodging and boarding of pilgrims at small cost. Apart from these legends regarding the hill and the kshetra, the
vicinity of the place is of great antiquarian interest. It is on the same range of hills
as the Bhima shankar or Manmoda caves have been cut, the fort of Shivaneri erected. The
whole area was inhabited by Buddhist monks and the number of their chaityas and vihars is
great. Bhimashankar is an extremely small village situated in a spacious gorge of a lofty
hill. The only inhabitants of the place are the Gurav pujaries and brahmin attendants.
It is seventy four miles from Poona by road. State buses go
there from Poona twice a week: during the Maha- sivaratri festival, when there is a great
fair at the place buses ply to and fro daily. The route from Poona occupies more than five
hours of bus- journey. The road upto Manchar, a half-way house, is the Poona- Nasik road,
and is in an excellent state, the bus gliding over it. But the latter half is through an
extremely rough terrain. For nearly twelve miles after branching off towards the West from
Manchar, it runs parallel to the river Ghodnadi. |
