Siddheshwar Temple, Solapur

The Siddheshwar temple is great divine place in Solapur city.

The Siddheshwar Temple was constructed by a devotee of Sri Mallikarjuna of Srisailam, Shri Siddharameshwar. The temple is located near the Siddeshwar Lake and has three gates situated in the cloister through which the inner courtyard can be reached.

Another feature of this temple is the garden that has a shrine dedicated to Saint Nalatwad. Other shrines in the temple complex are dedicated to Lord Vithoba and Goddess Rukmini.

There are many trains from Mumbai/Pune going to Solapur including Siddheshwar Express. One can travel by state transport as well as luxury buses to Solapur.

To book luxury bus tickets to Solapur or know more, please visitSonal Travels or call Mr. Vijay Mane on 022-2340 9745 / 9869554222.

Solapur - Gateway to Many Holy Places (Pilgrimage Tours)

The regular readers of my blog will be surprised while reading this blog post. Unlike my usual blog posts which are about the holy and pigrimage places, this post is all about a city and its importance of being a hub connecting different places. This city is a great connecting place or gateway to many holy places that includes Akkalkot, Gangapur, Pandharpur, Tuljapur etc. Beside this there is a a famous Siddheshwar Temple in the city of Solapur.

Many pilgrimages can be planned surrounding the city of Solapur. One can make Solapur city for their stay beside the local sightseeing. One can plan a pilgrimage of 2-3 days. One can stay in Solapur and then plan a day's tour to visit Akkalkot, Gangapur. One day can be planned for visits to Tuljapur and Pandharpur. One day for some rest and local Solapur city darshan.

It is a well developed city with all amenities. You can find many eating places across the city, but one I cherish the most is eating at Shree Datta Bhojanalaya. This is the place where I find good food at affordable prices. The food is also delicious.

Solapur City is some 400 kms from Mumbai and takes little over 6 hrs by road. Lots of buses (private and public transports both) are available. There are also good number of trains going to Solapur from Mumbai. Siddheshwar Express is one such milestone train between Mumbai and Solapur.

So what are you waiting for plan your visit to this city and/or a pilgrimage surrounding Solapur.

To book luxury bus tickets to Solapur or know more, please visit Sonal Travels or call Mr. Vijay Mane on 022-2340 9745 / 9869554222.

Shri Mayakka Devi Temple CHINCHALI

Today I am sharing with you all information on Shri Mayakka Devi in Chichali in Karnataka State. Shri Mayakka Devi is Durga Mata, Ambika Mata herself. Though it situated at Chichli near Belgaum City of Karnataka state, majority of the devotees are from border districts of Maharashtra state especially from Sangli and Kolhapur districts. For many people in Maharashtra like me, she is "Mahervashin".

Mayakka devi is a Jagrut devi and her blessings make devotees happy.

Temple of Goddess Shree Mayakka Devi in Chinchli,Dist:Belgaum, State:Karnataka, Country: India. One can travel to Belgaum city and from there on one can take state transport bus, rickshaw, other vehicles to reach this place. The route is Belgaum-Chikkodi-Raibaug-Chinchali.

To book luxury bus tickets to Belgaum or know more, please visit Sonal Travels or call Mr. Vijay Mane on 022-2340 9745 / 9869554222.

Shri Kshetra Paijarwadi - Datta Avatari Chile Maharaj

Today I will be sharing information about another holy place and Datta Avatar near Kolhapur.

Shri Kshetra Paijarwadi is a holy place where Datta Avatari Mahapurush Chile Maharaj. Chile Maharaj is widely called as "Shri Satguru Datta Chile Maharaj". There is huge number of Devotees visiting this holy place mainly from Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Nasik and other parts of Maharashtra. Holy charan padukas of Maharaj are worshiped daily in the mandir. Devotees chants "Om Chile Datta" to seek blessings of Chile Maharaj.

The Temple architecture is also very interesting and attractive. It is of Tortoise's shape.

Paijarwadi is one of the Village in Panhala Taluk in Kolhapur District in Maharashtra State . Paijarwadi is located 3.8 km distance from its Taluk Main Town. From Mumbai & Pune, one can travel up to Kolhapur and from there on can take city bus, private vehicle etc. to reach the temple.

To book luxury bus tickets to Kolhapur or know more, please visit Sonal Travels or call Mr. Vijay Mane on 022-2340 9745 / 9869554222.

Jyotiba - Maharashtra's Kuldaivat

Today, I will be sharing information on Shri. Jyotiba who is Kuldaivat to many of Maharashtrians like me. This pilgrimage is in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. This Shri Kshetra is on the hill top near to Panhala. This hilltop is called "Jyotibacha Dongar". One can club this pilgrimage with other holy places in Kolhapur district. This pilgrimage can begin from Kolhapur. One can start with Shree Mahalakshmi Mata Darshan in Kolhapur city, followed by visit to Jyotiba, Narsobachi Wadi (Shri Kshetra Nrusinhwadi) in Kolhapur district.

If one decides to make visit only to Jyotiba and wants to stay in divine vicinity for 2-3 days, then he can either stay in Kolhapur city or at "Jyotiba Royale Resorts". This resort is on Jyotibacha Dongar (Hilltop) itself to give you both spiritual as well as scenic experiences. So you can imagine what could be my preference.

To know more about the Temple or doing online pooja bookings, please visit "http://www.jyotiba.in/".

To book tickets to Kolhapur, please get in touch with me at Sonal Travels on 022-2345 9745/ 9869554222.

Ramling - Miraculous Pilgrimage in Sangli, Maharashtra

I happened to visit Ramling Temple in Sangli district of Maharashtra recently. It is a very old and beautiful cave temple. The temple structure is very old and the main deity is a Shivalinga inside the cave. This Shivalinga is believed to be installed here by Sree Rama during his 14 year life in the forests. It is also believed that Shree Rama worshipped this idol at that time. Shree Rama with the strike of bow brought Ganga water on that hit top for Shivalinga abhishek. The caves are wet always with water dripping from the cave walls all the time. The quantity of water coming into the cave does not increase or decrease even during rainy seasons. The source of water could not be found out so far. Its the miracle done by Shree Rama and Shiv Shankar and hence called Ramling.

I feel blessed by visiting this place, suggest you all to seek blessings by visiting this amazing holy place.

It is some 14 kms from Kolhapur. To book tickets to Kolhapur, please get in touch with me at Sonal Travels on 022-2345 9745/ 9869554222.

Annavaram - Shri Satya Narayan Swami

I happened to visit this place in October 2011 during my visit to Pithapuram. This is that religious place where Shri Satya Narayan Swami appeared. In maharashtra and all other places in India, people are performing Satya Narayan Pooja atleast once in a year for happiness, richness, good family life. As mentioned above Annavaram is that holy place where the first Satya Narayan Pooja was performed and it is said that it is that holy place where if we perform Satya Narayan Bhagwan Pooja, we get complete blessings of Satya Narayan Dev as god has himself assured of his presence to listen to this pooja.

One should perform this Satya Narayan Pooja at least once in his life time. I did during my pilgrimage in October 2011. I suggest all god-believing people should do the same.

Annavaram is situated 32 Km from Pithapuram, 51 Km from Kakinada and 72 Km from Rajahmundry.

One can take Konark Express from Mumbai CST and get down at Rajahmundry and take another vehicle to reach there. One can club Annavaram pilgrimage with their holy visit to Pithapuram. You can also take flight to Vijaywada and from there on travel either by bus/vehicle or by train.

For more details on travelling from Maharashtra, you can write to me on vijaymane66@gmail.com or call on 022-23459745. 

You can also visit the official website of Annavaram Devasthanam at http://annavaramdevasthanam.nic.in/ to book for Poojas and other information.

Sriguru Gopal Baba Pithapuram - Dattatreya Lineage

Sriguru Gopalbaba is also called Nirgun baba. He is 140+ years. Few even say that he is 180+ years of age. He is supposed to be from same era that of Sadguru Gajanan Maharaj of Shegaon. Even one spiritual soul told me before my visit to his ashram in October 2011 that Gopalbaba and Gajanan Maharaj are one and the same.


During my visit in October 2011, I could actually get darshan of baba. Baba gave his blessings to me and family. He even gave his signature to us on 100 rupees note with his thumb expression on my company business card as his blessings. We felt so fortunate. There is a "Akhand Dhuni" in his aashram which according to baba's deciples, it is ignited by baba by inviting all 5 datta avataras together at that location.


The aashram is located at
Sri Gopal Baba Ashram. Pithapuram bypass road (bypass road), Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh 533450

You can book luxury private bus upto Vijaywada/Hyderabad and take connecting buses/trains from there to Pithapuram. To book bus tickets from Mumbai please contact me at Sonal Travels on 022-2345 9745 / 9869554222.
You can travel by Konark Express and other trains and ge t down at Samalkot Junction and from their it is half an hour or 18 Km drive to the aashram.
One can take flight to Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh or Trivandrum in Kerala and from there on take train/bus to Pithapuram.

I feel blessed, I suggest you to be blessed as well. You will feel as if you are in one of the Datta Sampradaya temple/ashram.