Pimpleshwar Mahadev, Saldi

Gujarat, Mehsana, Gandhinagar

In the village of Saldi, stand the Pimpleshwar Mahadev temple, a shrine where the Lord is worshipped in the form of Jalasharii, or the natural flow of water. The first temple was built by Petha Patel of Saldi dating back to the 1086 AD. The current building was constructed and renovated by Sayajirao Gaekwad, the ruler of the state Baroda in 1895 during the British colonial era in India.

Legend

The legend describes that a cow herder, Petha Patel found one of his cows regularly releasing her milk over one location under a Pimpal tree. He looked there and found the Jaladhari water source. The cow's offering of her milk at this site led the people of Saldi to attribute this phenomenon to the presence of Lord Shiva.

Architecture

The temple has not been renovated for at least 100 years, and therefore portrays an antique look. The surrounding landscape is filled with Pimpal trees, Bili Trees and Vakhada trees. Pimpleshwar Mahadev in Saldi does not have the usual Shiv linga. Instead it has a Jaladhari - a continuous flow of water from an aquifer below the ground. The temple has images of Ganesha, Parvati and Hanuman carved in stone and has smaller shrines of Amba,Lakshmi Mata and Naga Devata.

Pic Courtesy : www.templeadvisor.com

Darsan Info

Temple timings :- 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM

Darsan Dresscode

Devotees are advised to wear clean and conservative attire.

Famous Festival

November - Temple mela/fair, Karthik Poornima

Culture

Mehsana district is the largest onshore oil producing asset of ONGC in India. Asia's second largest dairy Dudh Sagar is situated in Mehsana. Several Indus Valley Civilisation sites like Loteshwar are located in this district. Modhera is a quaint village in Mehsana district that is well-known for its Sun temple.