One day picnic spot near pune, weekend gateways around pune, pune picnic,Places to visit around pune by Nishigandh Chavan, Around pune
A religious place, Kanifnath has a special place in the hearts of several devotees.It is located on a hill top, it is just a small drive 30-40 km away from the Pune city. A serene place, being on the top just makes you feel divine.
The top view of Pune city and the sunset is something you should not miss when you visit the Kanifnath temple. The drive through the hilly roads of Bopdev ghat is equally interesting with the narrow roads surrounded by lush greenery. Also you can visit the temple from hadapsar to dive ghat to saswad.
There is one tapari on the rout from saswad to kondhawa which offers very good "MISAL PAV" & "TEA" , you will remeber its taste forever.
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Main entrance of the temple              
According to the local peoples, it was Saint Kanifnath who discovered this caves, which is now turned into a temple and hence dedicated to him. A unique temple, its main shrine is a closed room with a narrow entrance of 9 inch by 11 inch. Opened only to men, without shirt one has to squeeze and crawl through this narrow entrance to reach the shrines of Gorakshnath, Jalindranath and Macchindranath.
The closed room has little space for only ten people to stand comfortably at one time. As one is never suppose to show his legs towards the shrine, a person is expected to enter with the head going in first and coming out is also a skilled full task as the legs need to get out first. If you have claustrophobia (fear of enclosed places) you may want to refrain from going inside, as apart from the small entrance there is no other opening to the room.
First time visitors may get apprehensive about getting stuck but miraculously, even bulky men can easily enter, provided they has faith. As per the tradition and customs at the temple, only men are allowed to enter the main shrine that too with a bare chest.
Apart from the main shrine, there are small temples of Datta, Vitthal and Kaal Bhairav in the vicinity of the Kanifnath temple.
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