When Land Conquers Man – Balaji temple Pune

So you came to this page after seeing the name Balaji temple and I am very sure you would be thinking that I might have mistakenly written Pune, because you would associate Balaji temple only with Tirupathi. Well, I have not made any mistake and neither have you, for you have reached what you searched for, Balaji temple. And I would tell you that here exists an exact mirror image of the Tirupati Balaji temple. Come here and you would know what I am talking about. For I still remember, the day I went there and got completely mesmerized. I remember how my friend had taken me there because she wanted me to see her city. Yes, Paayal was all a bundle of enthusiasm and energy as I had gone with her to this temple. Paayal is a native of Pune, however, since she was stationed abroad for a very long time, on the slightest pretext she wanted to visit her home town and here we were at the Balaji Temple.

I had come to Pune on an official tour and had time to go around in the weekend. So Paayal took me to this lovely place with the best painted walls, and the most intricate work of carvings. The whole temple looked like a maiden in waiting and the decorative sculptures and carvings here were completely out of the world and Paayal reminded me that it was Pune and not Tirupathi. The entire sight was completely breathtaking and I could only stand there transfixed.

Anyway I was happy I had brought my SLR camera along so it could be the best proof for those who don’t believe that Tirupati exists here in the Balaji temple Pune.

Paayal told me that this earlier was a town known as Kapurhol. Then someone decided to convert this into a temple complex. And so started the creation of the entire area on the lines of the Tirupati temple. I was there in the temple at 6 in the morning. The entire area was calm, and the ambience was pure. Paayal told me that if we don’t reach there early in the morning, the rest of the day is like a jamboree. So it was better we avoided the crowd.

The place is called Narayanpur and the priests here apparently are from Tirupathi. The puja that is done here is similar to the one in Tirupathi and the entire functioning is just like how it is there in that holy land of Lord Venkateswara. Just like how a ladoo is given in Tirupathi, here too the devotees are given a ladoo.

As I entered the temple complex, I could see that the maintenance factor was high here and I was quite surprised to feel that Tirupathi touch everywhere here. IT was good we came here early as the heat was also building up.

We were put up in a place called Magarpatta. Then we had crossed the Hadapsar market and then had taken a bus to this place. As we went by the bus I saw a very weird structure on the way. It was a major landmark kind of structure. The one hour drive was very nice and I took as many photographs as I could.

The entire ambience as we reached the temple was so beautiful that I couldn’t believe that something so pristine could exist near Mumbai. The entire scenic beauty completely enthralled us and thus when we are the temple the ambience there totally took us to an ecstasy like feeling.

Coming back to the temple ambience as we entered the temple we had to leave our footwear, cameras, mobiles etc at the counter. They were not allowed inside. There was a red carpet strip which took us inside. There was a queue. – One for the ladies and one for the gents. We were there quite early. The temple is open from 5.30 in the morning to 8.30 in the night. If the temple closes for pooja then we would have to wait for half an hour or so to see the Lord.

The queue moved fast and then we entered the main sanctum. We had to go through a winding path which led us to the Lord. The Lord in full glory and dressed royally. The whole atmosphere was reverberating to the sounds of “Govinda Govinda” and the feeling was electric. It was so peaceful and calm to be able to see Lord so near and so in the city of Pune.

Then right opposite that temple entrance we saw a Hanuman temple. We went there too. The ladoo that we had got from the Balaji temple Pune was huge and delicious.

Then we made our way to the dining hall which lies behind the temple. There we got an Andhra fare. There was mixed rice, chutney, tamarind rice, brinjal rice, a gravy dish and the entire food was very delicious.

Added to it, the place was clean so we didn’t have any problems eating there either.

I was happy I had come here and thanked Paayal for bringing me to this place.