Jejuri is a city and municipal council in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India. The city has an important mandir of the Hindu lord Khandoba, the Khandoba Mandir, which is situated on a hill in this city. It is one of the most visited tirtha (holy places) in Maharashtra.
Khandoba is a clan god for many castes and communities in Maharashtra, loved as a wish-granting god. His wives Mhalsa and Banai represent his caste groups, the Lingayat Vanya of Karnataka and the nomadic herdsmen, the Dhangar tribe.
History
Jejuri has lime deposits. The historic Shaniwar Wada Fort, the Peshawa headquarters of the Maratha Empire in Pune, was completed in 1732 by Bajirao I, at a total cost of Rs. 16,110, With lime mined from the Jejuri Lime Belts.
In 1739 Chimaji Appa, a general of the Maratha Empire and brother of Peshwa Bajirao, defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Vasai. After the war, Chimaji Appa and his Maratha soldiers took 38 church bells from there as souvenirs and installed them in 34 Hindu mandirs in Maharashtra. They installed one of these bells in the Khandoba mandir, where it still stands.
The Khandoba temple is located in Jejuri, which is southeast of the Maharashtra city of Pune. The city is known for one of the most revered temples in the state, the Khandobachi Jejuri. The temple is dedicated to Khandoba, also known as Mhalsakant or Malhari Martand or Mylaralinga. Khandoba is regarded as the ‘God of Jejuri’ and is held in great reverence by the Dhangars. The temple was the site of a historic treaty between Tarabai and Balaji Bajirao on September 14, 1752.
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