About Bhadra Maruti
Khultabad may be a small town in Aurangabad district, but it is worth including
it in the list of must see places when you visit Aurangabad. The temple is crowded
on Saturdays with long serpentine queues for darshan, as it is considered to be
an auspicious day to worship Lord Maruti (also called Hanuman). Devotees throng
this place in thousands in the month of March, to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti. This
temple is one of the two places where Lord Hanuman is in sleeping position. The
other one is in Allahabad.
The temple was built by Rajarshi Bhadrsen. And the legend goes like this:
“Khultabad previously known by the name of Badravati Nagar was ruled by King
Bhadrasen, a kind and pious man. King Bhadrasen used to sit singing bhajans in praise
of Lord Hanuman on the banks of Bhadrakund Talab. One day while the King was singing
the devotional songs, Lord Hanuman appeared in front of him. Listening to the captivating
music, he fell asleep on the ground. Later, Lord Hanuman pleased by the astute devotion
of King Bhadrasen, granted him a wish. The good King desired that the Lord would
stay there forever and fulfill the desires of all his devotees. Lord Hanuman granted
the wish and disappeared. Much later, an idol of Lord Hanuman in a sleeping posture
was found where he had stood. That’s how the name Bhadra Maruti or ‘Sleeping Hanuman’.”
The interiors of the temple are in marble and the ceiling at the entrance had numerous
designs and hymns written with painted mirrors. The sleeping hanuman idol is covered
with orange colored sheet and garlanded with a string of banyan leaves. Outside
the temple there are rows of shops selling various puja articles and food items.
Our next destination was the tomb of Aurangazeb in Khuldabad. Bhadravati Nagar was
earlier called Ramapur and during the reign of Emperor Aurangazeb the town got its
name Khultabad.