Puntamba

The Godavari river is sacred to Hindus and has several places on its banks, that have been places of pilgrimage for thousands of years.Puntamba is one of them.[3] On the bank of the Godavari in town,there are low flights of steps or ghats to the water, one of which was built by Ahilyabai Holkar, the great temple-building ruler of Indore (1765–1795) and another by one Shri Shivram Dumal.[2][4]

Dried up Godavari as seen from the Changdeo temple

The place has sixteen temples of Maruti, six temples of Mahadev including one of Kashi Vishweshvar, temple of Kalbhairav, three temples of Vitthal, two temples of Datta, and one each of Laxmi-Narayan and Changdeo Maharaj.

Chagdeo Samdahi Facing the Godavari River

The main temple in Puntamba is that of Changdev, a famous saint said to have lived for 1,400 years. It is stated that the saint used to absorb himself in devout contemplation after every hundred years at different places, Puntamba being the last place where he had his fourteenth meditation. There is a legend about Changdeo who, it is said, was very proud of his supernatural powers. He went to visit Dnyaneshwar, the noted saint-poet, by riding on a tiger, and using a poisonous cobra as a whip. The saint decided to humiliate Changdev by deriding his supernatural powers and made the inanimate masonry wall on which he was sitting with his brothers and sister move to meet the approaching Changdev. On seeing this strange spectacle Changdev lost all his pride, bowed in submission to Dnyaneshvar and asked for his forgiveness.[5]

An Old Street in Puntamba

The main temple of Changdev was built in the mid-1600s. Though very old, the temple of Changdev Maharaj is a simple structure with a mandap of 50'x30', open on all sides and covered with a roof of corrugated iron sheets having slope on four sides supported by a wooden frame and ten uncarved wooden pillars about eight feet in height. There is a small quadrangular gabhara wherein small idols of Vitthal and Rakhumai of black stone, facing east are placed. One can enter the gabhara (Inner sanctum)through a small door. However, one cannot see the samadhi (tomb) of Changdev which is just behind the backwall of the inner sanctum. The samadhi is built in well-dressed black stone in a quadrangular form of 6'x4' and paved with marbles, at the centre of which two foot-prints of marble are placed on a little raised platform under a small dome of about 4 feet in height. One has to ascend a flight of steps to see the foot-prints. The temple including the samadhi is surrounded by a wall 100'X70' built in mud and stone at a distance of about 10' on all the sides of the temple. The Godavari river which flows to the west of the temple provides a delightful scenic background during the monsoon season (June–October) but is reduced to a trickle by January. The temple holds its annual fair in Kartik (October–November). It is attended by about twenty-five thousand people from all over the district.