Jejuri (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʒed͡zuɾiː is a city and a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

in the Pune district of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India. Khandoba Mandir is an important

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

to the Hindu Lord Khandoba, one of the most visited tirtha (holy places) in Maharashtra. Khandoba is a clan god for many Maharashtrian

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

s and communities, beloved as a god who grants wishes. His wives Mhalsa and Banai represent their caste groups, the

Lingayat The Lingayats are a monotheistic religious denomination of Hinduism. Lingayats are also known as , , , . Lingayats are known for their unique practice of Ishtalinga worship, where adherents carry a personal linga symbolizing a constant, intim ...

Vanya of Karnataka and the nomadic shepherds, the Dhangar tribe.

History

In 1739 Chimaji Appa, a general of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

and brother of Peshwa Bajirao, defeated the Portuguese in the

Battle of Vasai A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

. After the war, Chimaji Appa and his Maratha soldiers took 38 church bells from there as memorabilia and installed them in 34 Hindu mandirs of Maharashtra. They installed one of these bells in Khandoba's mandir, where it remains to this day. Jejuri Khandoba Temple

Koli Naiks

The Koli brothers Naik Hari Makati and Naik Tatya Makaji were revolutionaries from Maharashtra who revolted against the British Hukumat. With Naik Rama Krishna of Kalambai, they raised an army of Ramoshis from Satara and revolted. In 1879, their Ramoshi army raided

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

fifteen times, then Satara many times after that. In February 1879, Naik Hari Makaji attacked a portion of Bhimthadi in

Baramati Baramati (Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɾamət̪iː is a city, a tehsil and a municipal council in Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The city is about 100 km (62 miles) southeast of the city of Pune and about 250 km from M ...

. On the eighth raid into Baramati, Naik Hari Makaji was attacked by British police, but escaped, fighting hand to hand with two British policemen. He wounded them, but two Ramoshis were captured. At the beginning of March, Hari Makaji again rose, revolted and raided

Indapur Indapur is a town and a municipal council in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Indapur is known for Jahagir of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's father and grandfather. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's grandfather Malojiraje died in ...

and raided, but was captured in

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the States and Territories of India, Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore ...

in mid-March. Tatya Makaji led his revolution until the end of the year, raiding villages on the Purandar and Sinhagad ranges. On 17 October, Koli Naik Tatya Makaji and some of his followers killed a Ramoshi who was an informer for British Major Wise. After that, Tatya Makaji Naik was brought to justice.

Geography

Jejuri is located at . It has an average elevation of 718 metres

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Jejuri had a population of 14,515. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Jejuri has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 67%. In Jejuri, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Khandoba mandir

The Khandoba temple is located in Jejuri, which lies to the southeast of

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. The town is known for one of the most revered temples in the state, the Khandobachi Jejuri. The temple is dedicated to Khandoba, also known as Mhalsakant or Malhari Martand or Mylaralinga. Khandoba is regarded as the 'God of Jejuri' and is held in great reverence by the Dhangars. The temple was the site of a historic treaty between Tarabai and Balaji Bajirao on 14 September 1752.

Every Somavati Amavasya (new moon that falls on a Monday), devotees of Khandoba gather at the Jejuri temple with tonnes of turmeric, smearing it on each other and throwing it around amid energetic singing and dancing. The temple-town is known as ‘Sonyachi Jejuri’ (golden Jejuri) because of this colourful celebration.

Jejuri Khandoba Temple can be easily divided into two separate sections - the Mandap and

Garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum". The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...

In popular culture

* Some scenes of the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film Naya Daur (1957) starring

Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...

were filmed on the premises of Khandoba mandir and the surrounding hilltop. The ''Ana he to aa'' song of this film was also entirely filmed at this mandir, while some inside shots were filmed at a

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...

. * Carry On Maratha (2015) - The ''Malhari Martand'' song of this film was shot at the Khandoba mandir. It was picturised by Gashmeer Mahajani. * Jejuri (poem) by Arun Kolatkar was based on this village and its deity. 9780391032866

Gallery

File:On the way to Jejurigad.jpg, Long shot of Jejurigad's mandir on mountain File:Looking down the stairs from the Jejuri temple.jpg, Stairs with arched entrance of the Jejuri Khandoba mandir Image:Agnijyot khandoba jejuri.jpg, Sacred fire (Jyoti) in front of the Khandoba temple. Image:Deepstambha jejuri.jpg, Deepstambha in front of the temple

Bibliography

* Günter-Dietz Sontheimer: Some Incidents in the History of the Khandoba. In: Asie du Sud. Traditions et changements. VIth European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies 1973. Hrsg. von M. Gaborieau u. A. Thorner, Paris 1979, S. 11–117.

References

{{Hindu temples in Maharashtra Cities and towns in Pune district Hindu temples in Pune district