Places Around Bidar
Maniknagar |
SHRI SADGURU MANIK PRABHU MAHARAJ (1817-1865) History The great mystic saint and yogi Shri Manik Prabhu Maharaj (1817-1865) is hailed as the incarnation of Lord Dattatreya and has an enormous following in the country. Shri Saibaba of Shirdi, Shri Akkalkot Swami Maharaj and Shri Gondavalekar Maharaj were Shri Prabhu’s contemporaries and they interacted with him on matters of deep spiritual wisdom. Shri Prabhu was also associated with the first war of Indian independence in 1857. All biographers refer to Shri Prabhu as a saint of great spirituality and mysticism. He is hailed as ‘Bhaktakarya Kalpadruma’. Stories of his miracles and eye witness accounts, which bear testimony to the manner in which he brought succor to the distressed and the sorrowing, to the afflicted and the wronged, who, ardently and with deep faith sought his spiritual intervention are available. Shri Prabhu’s teaching, basically, lay stress on the path of Bhakti. Alongside, he moralizes in the most remarkable manner on the ‘Vedantic Truths’ concerning the ‘Spiritual Unity’ of beings. Shri Prabhu uses his theological platform beautifully, to unfold, interpret and even reason out the concept of ‘ Ultimate Reality’. His innumerable poetic compositions are replete with expressions of ardent devotion to the different manifestations of Parabrahma. In the final analysis, he enjoins a meaningful connection between man and man, in a spirit of fellowship and brotherhood, disregarding affiliations of religions, caster of creeds. Such a philosophy invited messianic reverence for Shri Prabhu from all communities and earned him the appellation ‘Sakalamatacharya’. Sakalmata Sampradaya is not a cult or a sect. It is a holistic and an all embracing school of philosophy, which basically rests on the concept of a Supreme Soul that pervades the Universe and in that context perceives a spiritual unity in the entire human race. This school of thought holds an umbrella of eqality over all diversities of religions, faiths, and persuasions. Such a philosophy was readily acceptable to people of all religions, castes or creeds, and to rich and poor, as it held the promise of harmony among all people, transcending all barriers that produced conflicts. Geography & Access: Maniknagar is a little village comprising a hamlet and a temple complex, the nucleus of which is the main temple of Shri Manik Prabhu’s Samadhi. It is located on the outskirts of Humnabad (1 k.m. away), a taluka town in. Bidar district of Karnataka. Maniknagar is situated on the slopes of high ground near the holy confluence of two little rivulets ‘Guru-Ganga’ and ‘Viraja’. The climate is by and large is temperate. Getting There: Humnabad is situated on the intersection of Pune – Hyderabad National Highway No. 9 and Bidar Bangalore State Highway and has an important Bus Station for State and Interstate bus routes It Is accessible only by road from Gulbarga (65 k.m.), Sholapur (143 k m ), Hyderabad (160 k.m.), Pune (385 k.m.) and Mumbai (505 k.m.). Accommodation & Food: The Samsthan makes all efforts to provide devotees with decent accommodation, food, sanitation and other amenities. The Samsthan has ‘Martand Vilas’ an air-conditioned guesthouse with all modern amenities. ‘Madhumati Nilaya’ a guesthouse with thirty six rooms provides modest accommodation to the devotees. Reservations of rooms can be made by a written request to the office of the Samsthan. Lunch is served in ‘Bhandarkhana’ FREE OF CHARGE to a11 devotees under the ‘Nitya Annadan’ scheme. Breakfast, tea and dinner is made available by the staff of the accommodation department on request and on payment of charges. Daily Routine: Address & Telephone Number: Dnyanraj Manik Prabhu Maharaj For further details about Sant Manik Prabhu please visit: http://www.manikprabhu.org/ |
