Bhimashankar is located in the Ghat region of the Sahyadri Mountains. Bhimashankar temple is among the twelve Jyotirlingas situated all over India. It is located in the village of Bhojgiri, 50 km northwest of Khed taluka (alias Rajgurunagar), near Pune, in Maharashtra, India. Bhīmāshankar is also the source of the river Bhima, which flows southeast and merges with the Krishna river near Raichur. Maharashtra has three Jyotirlingas: Bhimashankar, Trimbakeshwar and Grishneshwar. Jyotirlinga As per the Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God for creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God for protection) had an argument about creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds with a huge, endless pillar of light, the Jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to search downwards and upwards, respectively, to find the end of the light in either direction. Brahma lied and said he found out where it ends, while Vishnu accepted defeat. Shiva showed up as the second pillar of light and cursed Brahma, telling him that he would never be included in ceremonies again while Vishnu would be worshipped forever. The Jyotirlinga is the supreme, partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The Jyotirlinga shrines, thus, are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. The twelve Jyotirlinga sites are named after the god who lives there, and each one is seen as a different form of Shiva. At all of these places, the main image is a lingam, which stands for the endless stambha pillar and represents Shiva's endless nature. The twelve Jyotirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhīmāshankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath in Jharkhand, Nageshvara Jyotirlinga at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar in Maharashtra. Architecture The sanctum of the Bhimashankar Temple is on a lower level and is made up of both old and new Nagara-style buildings. It demonstrates the exceptional craftsmanship of ancient Vishwakarma sculptors. The temple dates from the 13th century. In the 18th century, Nana Phadnavis built the Sabhamandap. He also designed and built the shikhara. The Maratha King Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj endowed this temple to facilitate religious ceremonies. As far back as the 13th century CE, people wrote about the Bhimashankaram shrine and the Bhimarathi river. It is reported that Saint