Day 1 – Varad Vinayak – Ballaleshwar – Mahaganapti
Where is it Located?
Taluka Sudhagad, District Raigad, Pali, Maharashtra, India. It is situated between fort Sarasgad and the river Amba.
How to reach here?
- By Road, 30 kms from Karjat
- By road, From Mumbai – via Panvel and Khopoli – Pali is at a distance of 100 km.
- By road, From Pune, Pali is 124 km.
- By Train – Nearest railway station is Karjat.
Best time to visit?
Any time throughout the year.
- During the monsoons (June – September) it is humid, temperature around 30 deg
- Hot during summers, temperature going upto 40 deg
- Winters are comparatively milder, temperature around 28 deg.
Timing
5.30 AM to 10 PM
Entry Fee
Entry FREE, Parking free
Where to stay?
Like every other Ashtavinayak trust, here also there is facility for stay organised by the trust. The Bhakta Niwas is decent having 24 rooms. There is lunch served as prasad, coupon available for Rs 20 at the Temple Office till 1.30 pm.
Our experience
This temple and village is very different than the Varad Vinayak temple at Mahad.
We had left Mahad at around 11 am. The distance between Mahad and Pali is 38 kms, and the roads are not that great. There are no signages for directions anywhere for Pali, so we just follow Google maps. We take 1 1/2 hours to reach Pali.
Once we enter the village, the roads are very narrow and we spot a place to park our car. There is no dedicated parking space here and we park at a place closer to the temple. As we we step out of the car, we see the amazing fort Sarasgad.
The town of Pali is developed at the foot hills of fort Sarasgad. People all around are now quite oblivious of the existence of this structure amongst them. But those who are interested in trekking or mountain climbing, should definitely plan climbing to the peak of this Ghad (mountain). I have not been here so cannot comment over the difficulty levels of climbing Sarasgad.
We walk about 15 mins from our parking place to the entrance of the Ballaleshwar temple. A beautiful arched entrance welcomes us into the temple premises. Quite a lively premise compared to the Mahad temple that we just visited. There are shops on both sides of the alley selling prasad offerings to the Lord. Also there are shops selling toys, imitation jewellery, food items etc. Eventually we see the temple corridor – A beautiful stone structure, like it is a part of some fort. The image below is the first portion of the temple to be visible which is the back of the temple. We go around this structure and enter the temple. We get to go inside the main sanctum for darshan here, no long queues, no noise pollution – just a simple temple surrounded by peace and serenity. We sit here for a few minutes and chant some mantras to imbibe the positivity into our minds and experience divinity.
There is a lake outside the temple. I am not aware of the name of this lake.
We reach Pali at around 12.30 pm. After darshan, we spot a pure vegetarian restaurant right outside the temple and have delicious lunch here. Then start our journey, next stop being Shri Mahaganapati temple at Ranjangaon.
Day 1 – Varad Vinayak – Ballaleshwar – Mahaganapti
Day 2 – Vighneshwar – Girijatmaj