Naldurg Fort

Naldurg Fort:-

Naldurg which was formerly a district headquarter is situated about 50 Kms. southeast of Osmanabad. The fort which is an interesting place has enclosed a surface of a knoll or plantain of basalt rock which is jutted out into the valley or raving of the small river Bori. Along the rest of the cliff on three sides ran fortifications. Bastion firmly built out are large enough to carry heavy guns. The entire circumference is about a mile and a half. The interior portion is covered with ruined walls and a wide road running up to the centre. The fort has many bastions amongst which are upli Buruj, which is the height point in the fort. Paranda Buruj , nagar Buruj, Sangam Burug, Sangram Buruj, Bands Buruj, poone Buruj are the other bastions.
History:-

The Naldurg fort is one of the important ground forts in the Marathawada region. It represents a fine example of the medieval architectural style.
It it believed that the fort was built by Nalaraja (The King Nala). The fort and the city is named after him. The fort was built in the period of the Later from A.D. 1351 to A.D. 1480 in the period of the kings and in A.D. 1558, the Adil Shahi rulers constructed the massive fortification wall of the fort. In A.D. 1613, Ibrahim Adilshah II built the weir on the river Bori and constructed Pani Mahal.
The main entrance gate of the fort is known as Hulmukh Darwaza. The protective walls have 115 massive bastions. The chief bastions are named Paranda, Upli, Sangram and Nav Buruj. Upli Burug is the highest place in the fort. Cannons are also placed on these bastions till today.
These cannons have figures of elephants and crocodiles and are therefore called Hathi Thop and Magar Thop. There are some old buildings still standing in good condition.
Inside fort:-

Inside the fort there are remains of the walls and some of the building such as Barood kotha, Baradari, Ambarkhana, Rangaan mahal, Jali etc. Though the buildings are in ruins the remains give a impression that there might have been at one time the specious buildings. There are two tanks in the fort known as machali guns amongst which important are the hathi toph and magar Toph, The hathi Darwaza and the hurmukh darwaza are the main gates of the fort.
Panimahal:-

The most interesting building which connects the fort and the Ranmandala is the dam constructed across the bori river, the dam and the pani mahal, which is built underaatched and in the middle of the dam were, constructed. During the reign of Ibrahim Adil shah II. The fort is said to have been originally built by a Hindu Raja who was a vassal of the Chalukya kings of kalyani. It was latter included in the dominions of the Bahamanis and was subsequently taken over by the Adil shahi kings of bijapur, from whom it passed in the hands of mughalain the year 1686.A.D.
Temples:-
Khandoba Mandir
Shree 1008 Bhagwan Adhinath Mandir
Ambabai Mandir
Rokdya Maruti Mandir
Ganesh Mandir
Vithal Rukumini Mandir
Mahadev Mandir

PARANDA

About paranda:-

Parenda, the headquarters town of the tahsil situated on the interfluve between the Sina and its tributary, the Dudna. There are also a few tanks in its neighbourhood. The town is connected by a fine tar road with Barsi in Solapur district, a distance of 27.36 km (17 miles) and there is a regular bus service plying between these two towns. The earliest possible reference to the place is found in the Puranas wherein it is referred to as Paramdhampur subsequently changed to Pracandpur, so-called perhaps because of the large size of the town then. It is difficult to state as to when the nomenclature was changed to Parenda.
The city is located around the historical fort.. This is oldest municipal council in the Osmanabad district. there are total 97 villages in the Paranda taluka.
There is an ancient historical FORTE in Paranda town. Paranda has great historical background. Paranda is also known as a Taluka of Temples and Mosques

Regarding Fort at Paranda:-



The fort was is probably 800+ Year Old. The Fort is surrounded by trench from all the sites.
There is a Mosque and Hindu Temple inside the Fort.. The authorities should take proper care to preserve this monument This fort has not faced any battle in past 400 years and it was used for storage of material only
The fort is one of the many forts erected by the Bahamani kings and is a fine spicemen of military Architecture and engineering. The gates defended by traversals and redoubts and the Ramparts. These are of the out and dressed stones with round bastions fitted for the heavy guns of the period. Around the fort there is a moat, which was always kept filled with water. Inside the fort there are 26 bastions amongst which the note-worthy are” MAHAKAL BURUJ” “BURUJ MAHAKAL,” BULAND BURUJ,” CHANCHAL BURUJ,” and shah mathkal ,” and NASSA YEED BURUJ” on the some of the bastions there are old guns the most important of which are” Malike maiden”, and Azda Paikar” The great bronze gund viz. Malika Maiden” now at Bijapur, is side to have been original mounted here. At present inside the fort there are the mosque, Narsimaha Mandir” and wall called “ RAMTIRTH” but there are also remains of the building like BARADARI, TAIKHANA, ZANANA MAKAN, etc. The remains of the walls and the dilapidated remains give an impression that at one time there might have been spacious and exquisites constructions.

Mankeshwar

About MANKESHWAR:-




Mankeshwar, with 3,073 inhabitants is a village in Parenda tahsils lying 2.41 km (one and a half miles) to the east of Varadvadi-kunthalgiri road.The village, however, is known for the temple of Mankesvar, from which it seems to have derived its name.
About Temple:-
It is one of the finest specimen of Hemadpanti style of construction and can be considered to be one of the best in the district. Literally each and every stone-slab employed in its construction, both on the inside and the outside, is ornamented with human, divine and animal figurines and many other enthralling patterns and designs. Many of these are depicted in dancing, wrestling and such other poses.
The temple standing on a 1.219 metres (4 ft.) high dais on the banks of the Visvakarma rivulet has a sabhamandap supported on twenty richly ornamented pillars. The designs are absolutely symmetrical. This part has two small chambers on either side.
The mandap, and the vestibule are
connected by a small and narrow passage with niches sunk in its side walls. The vestibule containing a large linga symbol of Mankesvar is much below the level of the mandap floor, it being necessary to descend down a few steps to have access to the vestibule. It is crowned by a small sikhar. In the environs of the temple broken idols and other fragments are to be found. Closeby is a temple dedicated to Satavai Devi..
Mankesvar has also the dargah of Sayyad Hussain Qadri a local avaliya with a mosque attached to it. An annual urus is held in honour of Sayyad Hussain Qadri.

Bhoom

About Bhoom:-
Bhoom is a Taluka in Osmanabad district, Maharashtra, India. Bhoom is small town situated in idyllic valley of Banashankar hill ranges of Sahyadri. It is situated on the banks of river Banaganga which eventually flows into Bhima. Population of Bhoom is around 12,000 with majority of people engaged in agriculture or related activities. Milk is a substantial side business for farmers and non-farmers here. Bhoom also being sub-division of Osmanabad district houses large number of Govt offices thereby it is home of large number of Govt employees.

Religion:-
Majority of People follow Hinduism and Buddhism whereas largest minority is Muslim. Inter-religious relations in Bhoom have been marked by remarkable peace and this town has been hallmark of a communal harmony in this region. Bhoom practically never faced any communal riots in its entire history. AllamPrabhu which is sort of composite deity for both Hindu and Muslim communities, also have acted as a place where both communities pray together and freely extremely mingle. Kunthalgiri is the Jain Religions ancient famous temple very near from Bhoom @ 10 km to North of Bhoom ie 3 km to south from NH-211. Kunthalgiri also famous for "Pedha" a sweet.

Education:-
Though this is a small place, many students from this area have been successful in their careers and have reached top posts in India and abroad. Bhoom boasts of some good education institutes and good teachers. S. P. College is a senior college which is a gift to students from rural areas who want to pursue higher education.

Geography:-
Bhoom is divided between two areas kasba and peth by Banganga river. Kasba is more traditional village type area with most of the people related with farming occupation whereas peth is more cosmopolitan where people of various professions live together. Bhoom has further grown in more white collar samarth nagar and new colonies near college whereas slum like suburb shivaji nagar in the south.
Mr. Rahul (Bhaiyaa) Mote is elected (Oct-09) as MLA from Bhoom-Pranda-Washi constituenc

Kuntalgiri

About Kuntalgiri:-

• Kuntalgiri is the great holy place of the Digamber Jains and famous for Digamberpanthi Jain Temple of south india.

• It is the land of Kulbhushan & Deshbhushan saints who place his soul on this holy land

• During the period of twentieth Tirthakar Munisuvratnath, two brother Kulbhushan & Deshbhushan had
offer continuous prayer (Tapashcharya) for transformation of soul towards the almighty & made this holy place.

• Temple is situated about 19 kms. from Bhoom on Bhoom-Osmanabad road and occupying the top of a hillock.

• Among other objects of interest on the hillcock is a round pillar of stone called 'Manasa Stambha"
rising to a height of nearly 13.11 meters.
Its capital is adorned by four identical images of Sauvratnath in a mediative pose.

• The temple was jointly built in 1931 by Venichand Mulchand Indorkar and Haribhai Gandhi of Solapur.

• The black stone idols of Deshbhushan and Kalabhushan are in a standingposture.
There were small images of 24 jain Tirthankars which is a visual feature of Jain temple.

• Thousands of peoples belonging to Jain Pantha from all over India visit this holy temple.
The temple is not only the place of worship but is the faith centre to obtain the peace of mind.

Shantisagar:-

Acharya Shri Shantisagar Maharaj, Charitra Chakravarti (आचार्य श्री शांतिसागर चरित्र चक्रवर्ती) was the first Digambar Jain Acharya of the 20th century, and the first Digambar Jain monk to wander in North India after several centuries.
Padmanabh Jaini writes in the first paragraph of "The Path of Purification"
"It is August, 1955. On the holy mount of Kunthalagiri, in the state of Maharashtra in India, an old man called Santisagara (Ocean of peace) is ritually fasting to death. He is the acarya (spiritual leader) of the Digambara Jaina community; now, after thirty-five years as a mendicant, he is attaining his mortal end in the holy manner prescribed by the great saint Mahavira almost 2,500 years earlier. Santisagara has owned nothing, not even a loincloth, since 1920. He has wandered on foot over the length and breadth of India, receiving food offerings but once a day. and then with only his bare hands for a bowl; he has spoken little during daylight hours and not at all after sunset. From August 14 until September 7 he takes only water; then, unable to drink without help, he ceases even that. At last, fully conscious and chanting the Jain a litany, he dies in the early morning of September 18. The holiness and propriety of his life and of the manner of his death are widely known and admired by Jainas throughout India"

Tradition:-
He belonged to the lineage of Sena Gana[2], made famous by Acharya Jinasena and his pupils in the Rashtrakuta period. His initiator Devendrakirti belonged to this lineage. The Sena Gana itself was a branch of the Pancha-stupa lineage.