Grishneshwar

maharashtratourism.gov.in

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The temple structure was destroyed by the Delhi Sultanate in 13th and 14th centuries. The temple went through several rounds of rebuilding followed by re-destruction during the Mughal-Maratha conflict. Maloji Bhosale (grandfather of Shivaji) first restored it in the 16th century and rebuilt it to its current form in the year 1729, under the sponsorship of queen Gautama Bai Holkar of Indore, after the fall of the Mughal Empire. It is presently an important and active pilgrimage site of the Hindus and attracts long lines of devotees daily. Anyone can enter the temple premises and its inner chambers, but to enter the sanctum sanctorum (garbha-gruha) of the temple, the local Hindu tradition demands that men must go bare-chested.

This story about the Ghrishneshwar Jyotirlinga is described in the Puranas- in the south country, there lived a very bright ascetic Brahmin named Sudharma, near the Devgiri Mountain. His wife's name was Sudeha. Both of them had a lot of love for each other. They had no problems of any kind, but they had no children. Astrological calculations showed that there could be no childbirth from Sudeha's womb. Sudeha was very keen to have children.