E-Paper
Rejuvenation of 900-year-old jal kund at Someshwar temple begins
A group of 100 students from the Modern College’s department of Microbiology and environmental science will be working on a novel idea of reed beds to purify the flowing water into the well
The 900-year-old kund (well) in the Shivaji-era Someshwar temple, on the bank of river Ram nadi in Pashan, is up for a revamp. The restoration work of the kund will be completed in three months under the joint efforts of Someshwar Mandir Devasthan Trust, Modern College at Ganeshkhind, and Kirloskar Vasundhara Ram nadi Punarujjivan Abhiyan.
The kund is part of the temple in Baner built in Hemadpanti style in black stone around nine centuries ago. The kund has a natural spring which is active throughout the year
Vinayak Nimhan, trustee of the Someshwar Mandir Devasthan Trust said, “This temple is Shivkalin and the kund has historical importance as it was a place where Chhatrapati Shivaji’s mother, Jijamata ,would often visit.”
A group of 100 students from the Modern College, Ganeshkind road’s department of Microbiology and environmental science will be working on a novel idea of reed beds to purify the flowing water into the well.
“The students of Modern College have come up with a new economic ecological innovation that will be implemented. We are expecting results in three months wherein purified water will be flowing into the kund,”said Virendra Chitrav, director, Kirloskar Vasundhara Ram nadi Punarujjivan Abhiyan.
The bio diversity and technical survey was done a month ago, where the plants, quality of water, identifying native species, the types of fish and birds was done. “We have developed a reed bed which has been designed as a system to direct clear purified water into the well which will be potable. We will use phytoremediator plants like Tagetes, Alocasia and Typha to purify the flowing water into the kund,” said Prachi Kshirsagar, botanist from the Modern College and leading the mission.
This temple where the kund is located, is spread over 3.5 acres and has three entrances; the main is from Someshwar wadi, other opens towards Ram nadi, and one is on the west side of the temple. One can see the Swayambhu Shiva Linga from the inner sanctum. The sanctum has beautiful carvings on the top dome. This temple has a 40 feet tall Deepmala, and surrounded by temples of Ganesh, Hanuman and Bhairavnath. To the north of the temple is a Havan Kund
During Peshwas, Shivram Bhat Chitrav Swami contributed to the renovations with gold coins found by him, and then gave them to Nanasaheb Peshwa. Nanasaheb Peshwa was instrumental in getting the temple renovated. You will find a samadhi of Chitrav Swami also in the temple.
The final renovation happened in 1974-84 by devotes and residents. It is said that village disputes were settled here by the way of divya or miracles of God and it also has stories about religious shlokas like Maha Rudra Abhishek were performed here for rains.
