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Shivagiri Of Bijapur
T K Patil Banakatti Charitable Trust has passionately formed a trust at Shivapur on Sindagi Road of Bijapur mainly to nurture an Old Age home which is going to be called Basant Van.
A huge Statue of Lord Shiva of 85 ft height has been installed in the village Rambapur, also referred as Shivagiri, around 3 km from Bijapur City. It was unveiled on 26 February 2006 on the sacred the day of Shivaratri.
Because of installation of the statue, this place has become a pilgrimage centre too. This statue weighing about 1500 tonnes is considered the second biggest statue of Lord Shiva in India. It has been sculpted by the artisans of Shimoga. It took about 13 months to complete the work and the design part of it was administered by Bangalore based architects.
A small Shiva Idol will also be installed here for daily rituals and the “Shiva Charite” meaning Shiva’s history will also be engraved around in Kannada language to enable devotees read and learn Shiva’s fame and Grace.
Origin
The very thought of establishing this location came from the series of charity work that the trust had been taking up in this region. This includes an old age home to be constructed in about 18-acre sprawling premises to be named as Basant Van. This home was also scheduled to be inaugurated on the same day when the Statue was to be unveiled. The old age home is planned to accommodate 52 members initially and the capacity to be enhanced gradually. Old age women will be given preference in admission and the trust has plans for establishing a school as well with free boarding for meritorious students from economically and socially backward groups.
The funding for this project was designed in such a manner that the gold that weighs as much the weight of Mr. Patil’s mother will be the donation for the project. As she weighed 55 kg, the gold estimated to fetch Rs. 4.5 crores for funding. This money is being deposited in a bank making the interest to be used for charity work.
Tourism Features
Shivagiri is a nice picnic spot in Bijapur and it is located on the way to Sindagi. Apart from being the 2nd largest statue of Shiva in the world, large number of Peacocks inhabiting this place is another attraction for tourists in this place.
There are a few other places of interest here for the tourists to see, which include
- Muneesher Bagh, Park/Garden, 0.6 km
- Jihan Begam Tomb, Monument, 2.2 km
- Hizihasal Gumbaz, Monument, 2.5 km
- Gol Gumbaz, Monument, 2.6 km
- Archaeological Museum Bijapur, Museum, 2.6 km
- Whistling Galiyara, Monument, 2.6 km
- Hanuman Temple. 2.7 km
- HMT Theatre, Theatre, 2.7 km
- Sundreshwar Temple, 2.9 km
- Jami Masjid, Mosque, 3 km
- Zamia Masjid, Monument, 3.1 km
- Hemaraddi Mallamma Temple, 3.3 km
- Musthappa Khan Masjid, Monument, 3.4 km
How to Reach
Sholapur Airport is the nearest airport to Shivagiri Temple and Minchnal Railway Junction is 18 km away from Shivagiri Temple.
To reach Bijapur City by road, there are a number of buses connecting major cities of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh states.
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