At least twice a year we visit Shirkoli village (around 70 km from Pune) situated near Panshet (famous for its dam and backwaters).
Our plan was to visit Shirkai Dev temple and also enjoy the drive through the winding roads that run adjacent to the backwaters of the Panshet dam.
Here’s a short recording of the entire journey.
The best time to visit or drive through this area is the rainy season (July till September) as that’s when you would enjoy the sight of hundreds of water falls, small streams and rivulets all along the road. We missed out the visit last year but will plan again sometime later this year during the monsoon season.
The route we chose this time was via Pirangut (and not the usual Sinhagad route) to avoid traffic jams on the Mumbai Pune highway and the Khadakvasala area.
We began our trip bit late (10:10 AM instead of the usual time of 07:00 AM) so we missed out the early morning elements of the nature.
It takes about 02:35 hrs to reach the place (the route we chose was quite narrow and a twisting turns almost every few hundred meters).
We stopped at a place where we could walk down and take few photos at the river bank.
We had once been to Nilkhanteshwar Temple via this route but it seems we had missed out to spot this beautiful place.
Further after about 20 KM of driving we reached the Panshet-Velhe road and looked out to find a place where we could stop for a snacks break.
We could see couple of families that had already been there with kids and set up few tents as well. It was so calm and peaceful with some cool breeze making it feel so relaxing.
We reached the Shirkai Devi temple and generally there are not many visitors so we had ample time to say our prayers and seek blessings from the goddess.
We belong to the Rajeshirke family and there’s a great documented history of the valour and the naval prowess of these brave soldiers and rules before and during the reign of Shri Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The empire of Rajeshirke’s was spread all across Konkan Region & Deccan Plateau.
Here’s a link with some brief summary of that history.
http://www.rajeshirkeparivar.com/
Rajeshirke’s believed in Goddesses Shirkai Devi. No task was accomplished without her blessings.
“Gadswamini” Shri Shirkai devi temple is still seen on the fort of Raigad known as Shrike family’s devi. Gotra – Dynasty of Rajeshirke originates from “Suryavanshi Kshtriya Kul”.
It’s also said lord Ram was born in this “Kul”. Historians have said that Rajeshirke belong to “ Gotra Vayagraha” where Vayagraha means means tiger ( Tiger also being “Vahan” of Shri Shirkai Devi”) Emblem of Rajeshirke Empire –
The color of the throne is pure white with the flag having a picture of horse with a big umbrella attatched near to its saddle. Horse being main “Vahan” of Rajeshirke.
Naval Force of Rajeshirke – Historians have noted that once Shankarrao Rajeshirke had 300 warships which guarded Arabian Sea. Force of Rajeshirke – Rajeshirke force comprised of Maratha soldiers which also had soldiers who hailed from parts of Europe, Africa & various other countries.
This historic temple remains submerged in water for almost 10 months round the year. It is believed that there are another 3-4 more temples that are buried in the vicinity of this temple.
Some more history detailing videos here.
Ganoji Rajeshirke (from Rajeshirke Parivar) Special Episodes son of PilajI Rajeshirke and his son Pilaji Raje wife Rajkunvar Raje Bhosale Daughter of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his Sister was Maharani Yesubai Saheb Raje Shirke from Rajeshirke Parivar who married to (and became wife of) Chatrapati Sambhaji Raje son of Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhosale (son of Jijabai from Jadhav Family) and Shahaji Raje Bhosale.
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