भद्रा मारोती मंदीर, खुलताबाद(रत्नपूर): Jay Bhadra !

Bhadra Maroti Temple, Khultabad(Ratnpur)

भद्रा मारोतीची एक पौराणिक कथा प्रसिद्ध आहे ती थोडक्यात सांगतो..

फार वर्षापूर्वी.. इथे भद्रावती नावाची नगरी होते.. भद्रसेन ह्या नगरीचा राजा होता.. तो रामभक्त होता.. तो नित्यनेमाने इथल्या भद्रकुंडाच्या जवळ रामाची आराधना करीत असे, भजन कीर्तन करीत असे.. एक दिवस हनुमान इथून चालले असता त्यांनी राम भजनाचे स्वर ऐकून ते इकडे आले तर इकडे भजनात गुंग झालेल्या भद्रसेनाचे स्वार ऐकून त्यांची भार्मानदी टाळी लागली.. शयनमुद्रेत लीन होवून ते भजन ऐकू लागले.. भजन संपताच हनुमानजी जागे झाले.. म्हणाले बोल राजा तुला काय वर पाहिजे.. भद्रसेन म्हणाला..तुम्ही इथेच तुमचे स्थान राहू द्या.. हनुमानजी तथास्तु म्हणाले.. आणि अंतर्धान पावले.. त्यावेळेस त्यांची मुद्रा असलेली हि शिळा तयार झाली असे म्हणतात.. शयनमुद्रेतील हि मारोतीची मूर्ती पाहण्यासारखी आहे.. त्यामुळे महाबली बलभीम भक्तांनी इथे आवर्जून भेट द्यायलाच हवी.. इथला मारुती नवसाला पावतो अशी पंचक्रोशी मध्ये ख्याती आहे..

Bhadra Maruti

Khultabad is located in the Aurangabad District of Maharashtra- the region popularly known as Maratwada. Khultabad was known as Bhadravati earlier and it was during Mugals’s rule the place was renamed as Khultabad. ‘Khultabad’ in Parsi means ‘entrance to heaven’. Bhadravati means ‘a sacred place’. Both these names, by themselves, give us an idea about the greatness of this place. Maratwada has the distinction of having three of the twelve ‘Joythir Lingams’ of the country. Other distinction of the Aurangabad district is the world famous Ellora caves where sculptures of all the three major beliefs of the country - namely Jain, Buddh and Hindu find a place prominently. The other famous place of the District is is Ajanta caves, where paintings of distinction are found.

Unique Sri Hanuman

Besides the above features of the area, there is a well known temple for Sri Maruti [Hanuman] located very near to the Ellora caves. The temple is just four Kms from the Ellora caves. The Lord of this temple Sri Hanuman is known as Sri Bhadra Maruti. This murthi is one of the few Maruti murthis to be found in a reclined posture. The unique posture with which Sri Hanumanji is seen here has an interesting episode, behind it.

Legend

The place Bhadravati was once ruled by a noble king named Bhadrasena, who was an ardent devotee of Sri Rama. He admired Sri Rama as a sacred and a pure God and worshipped Him as ‘Bhadra’. He constructed a tank for the temple housing Sri Rama, and called it Bhadrakund. He used to take bath here before he offered his prayers to Sri Ramabhadra. He was blessed with a beautiful daughter and he named her Bhadra. The town came to be known as Bhadravati.

Rajarishi Bhadrasena

The king was good in music and his devotion to his Lord was shown in the songs he had composed on Him. He used to sing songs in praise of his Lord Sri Rama in a melodious voice. His singing used to me smerize the entire place and virtually every one present there will feel the presence of Sri Rama in their heart. Though he was righteous ruler, he was not attached to the throne he was occupying. Because of his detachment towards worldly matters and attachment towards Sri Rama, his subjects called him as ‘Rajarishi Bhadrasena’. The singing of Ram Bhajan used to continue from morning till evening and on some occasions it used to continue for days together.