01Malhari Martand
Khandoba is Shiva as Martand Bhairav, who rode down on a white horse with his sword, the khanda, to slay the demons Mani and Malla, as the Malhari Mahatmya tells; Malla’s name gave him the name Malhari. Mhalsa, a form of Parvati, is his consort, and Banai of the shepherd Dhangars his second wife, so Khandoba belongs equally to farmers, herders, warriors and Brahmins. At Jejuri the temple stands on a hill reached by some two hundred steps lined with deepmalas, the lamp towers. Devotees throw bhandar, turmeric powder, as they climb, until the steps and the people are yellow. On Somvati Amavasya, a new moon falling on a Monday, the palanquin of the god goes down to the Karha river and the crowds are thickest.
02The Marathas’ god
Malhar Rao Holkar was born in 1693 at Hol, a few kilometres from Jejuri, and the Holkar house kept Khandoba as its family god; his very name is Khandoba’s. Peshwas, Holkars and many Maratha sardars made gifts to the temple. After Chimaji Appa took Vasai from the Portuguese in May 1739, his men brought the church bells back as trophies and hung them in temples across Maharashtra; one hangs at Jejuri. On 14 September 1752 a settlement between Tarabai and the Peshwa Balaji Bajirao was sworn here before the god. The poet Arun Kolatkar’s Jejuri, published in 1976, made the place known to readers of English poetry.
The life of this place
- 16 March 1693Malhar Rao Holkar is born at Hol near Jejuri.
- 1739A bell from the conquest of Vasai is hung in the temple.
- 14 September 1752Tarabai and Balaji Bajirao swear a settlement at the temple.
About 50 km south-east of Pune; the climb takes half an hour, and Somvati Amavasya and Champa Shashthi bring the biggest crowds.
