Mahabaleshwar in Satara district is a well-known place with cool temperature as well as a tourist spot in Maharashtra. If we look into the history, Mahabaleshwar is mentioned from the Yadav period itself. The old Mahabaleshwar area is also known as Kshetra Mahabaleshwar. Kshetra Mahabaleshwar has a grand temple of Shri Mahabaleshwar, Shri Panchganga and Shri Krishna Devi which is very ancient. Every Hindu who comes to Mahabaleshwar for tourism visits Sri Mahabaleshwar, Sri Panchganga Devalaya, but less number of tourists visit the temple of Sri Krishnamai located at the back of Sri Mahabaleshwar Devalaya. The temple of Sri Krishnamai is the source of the river Krishna. River Krishna originates here and flows through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. ... In the core of the Mahabaleshwar temple, five rivers reside on the head of Lord Shankar in the form of Rudraksha. There is only the same amount of water for twelve months, it is not flowing and it gets secreted from there and then it originates from Gomukh near the ancient Mahadev temple in Mahabaleshwar. There is also a legend that Savitri cursed Vishnu and Vishnu became Krishna. Also its tributaries Venna and Koyna are Lord Shiva and Brahma. After exiting here Krishna River flows independently. The oldest Hemandpanti Shiva temple is on a hill here. It is also known as Krishnamai temple because of the idol of Krishna kept in it. The outside of this temple as well as on the main pillar are carved with serpent images, so it is speculated that this temple may be of the serpent period. Next to Krishna are Pitrumukti Kund, Aranyakund and Malapattirtha. Presently Kriyakarma rituals are performed on Pitrumukti Kund. Here the river Krishna emerges and descends into the valley. This temple was built in the 13th century AD 1215 by Singhan, a Yadav king of Devgiri. The entire temple is made of stones. A special feature of the complete temple is the stone construction including the roof. There is a magnificent Shiv Linga in the sanctum sanctorum there. A continuous trickle of water runs beneath it. This is where Krishna originated. There is a tank in front of the sanctum sanctorum. In that tank, a stream of water flows uninterruptedly from the statue cow's mouth. It flows as a river. This water flowing from Gomukh is a lively shrine. In front of this temple there is a beautiful natural scenery. The culmination and part of the wall have collapsed from the back side of this temple. Millions of tourists come to Mahabaleshwar every year, but few of them visit Sri Krishna Mai's temple because the main attractions here do not have the name of Sri Krishnamai temple and the road leading to the temple is rough and at some places with unpaved steps. Even the steps to enter the actual temple premises are made of stone only. There is a narrow path leading to Sri Krishna temple and local guides do not take tourists there. There is no board anywhere near the temple or on the road giving information about this place. The Archaeology Department of India is responsible for the preservation of historical monuments across the country and has been taking possession of ancient and historical sites and temples, but has shown indifference towards the upkeep of these sites which symbolize the glory of ancient history. The temple of Krishnamai at Mahabaleshwar has been neglected by the archaeological department. We should insist on the archaeology department to preserve the glory of the places which are symbols of our identity. This is a small effort to wake up before the destruction of places with historical sources and bring the information about this temple that we have noticed and has been ignored by the archaeology department to the people!
© Suresh Nimbalkar