narsinhwadi or narsobachi wadi is one of the important holy place associated with lord dattatreya and his avatar sri narasimha saraswati. lord dattatreya is very much revered in maharashtra, gujarat, karnataka and andhra pradesh.
few important places of lord dattatreya in these states are this narsinhwadi datta mandir in kolhapur, gangapur datta temple in karnataka and girnar in gujarat.
sri narasimha saraswati did penance at this place for 12 years. because of the severe penace of sri narasimha saraswati, the name of the place (amarapur) became associated with this name. thus amarapur came to be known as narasoba wadi.
from amarapur, sri narasimha saraswati went to gangapur and did penace there for 24 years. gangapur is another very important place associated with lord dattatreya. people who are troubled with spirit possession or other worldly trouble visit gangapur every thursday to get relief from spirit possession.
lord dattatreya paduka’s are worshipped in the narsinhwadi datta temple (in maharahtra, lord dattatreya is fondly called as datta). the main attraction is the datta paduka which you can see in the above photo. even in gangapur (karnataka) datta temple, the main attraction is datta’s paduka.
its a small temple but well maintained.
the narsinhwadi datta temple is below ‘umber’ or ‘audumbar’ tree.
in every datta place, the umber tree is must. e.g. ek mukhi datta mandir at narayanpur pune the ‘audumbar’ tree is very old. lord dattatreya has three faces and in hindu mythology he represents the trinity of brahma, vishnu and mahesh (shiva). but in many places ek mukhi datta temple is also there. like near godavari river in nashik.
the umber tree represents the lord dattatreya place.
narsinhwadi is situated at the confluence of krishna and panchganga rivers. which ever place two rivers meet, that confluence/sangam becomes a charged place.
so datta temple and these holy rivers make the place subtly charged with spiritual energies. the rivers flow is very smooth.
there are steps made on the river bank next to the datta temple. so you can get down and safely wash your feets, hands and face.
many saints have also visited this holy place and thus the place is blessed with multitude of spiritual factors.
many religious ceremonies are performed in the narsinhwadi datta temple. i saw many people performing religious ceremonies or pooja. many pandits were also present there.
there is a big market as you approach the temple. you can get all pooja material, spiritual books and cds from here.
i hope you have a good darshan of lord datta whenever you visit this place.
other spiritual places near kolhapur:
1. mahalaxmi temple
2. lord jyotiba temple
3. yamai devi temple
4. balumama temple