Tuljapur is very much popular temple in Maharastra, though it is not very much well known as Shirdi for example.
I did not know about this temple about two years ago until my driver suggested that we must go via Tuljapur to Shirdi. At that point I said yes to him but did not ask much . He explained that it was chatrapti Shivaji’s "ila velpu" meaning the goddess he worshiped.
And finally when we were going to Shirdi , we skipped the route to Tuljapur , because somebody we asked on the way told that Shirdi via Sholapur is better , and the road via Tuljapur was bad . I did not care and told the driver to go straight to Sholapur.
I convinced myself that I did not make promises to go Tuljapur and I did not break it either,
But the Goddess seems to have got angry , and she punished me . At Sholapur chowrasta , the corrupt police harassed me for one hour in hot summer and collected 300 rupees "mamool" bribe from me on some flimsy reason that there is no pollution certificate , it was my new car and I did not take pollution certificate . That one year period was over by just one week they argued and said I should pay one thousand rupees fine, Later I learnt that sholapur police are experts in harassing Shrdi going piligrims and it was very common for the sholapur police to loot the piligrims.
All this happened I thought was because in the last minute , I canceled my plan to visit Tuljapur.
After two years when in November, 2007 , I was driving my car myself , I did visit Tulajapur Bhavani mandir. It was on Hyderabad to Bombay highway , you will see a very big Board by R&B department indicating , that a right turn at the "Y" junction takes you to Tuljapur.
If you were going to Shirdi from Hyderabad , you need not come back to this "Y" junction again to go to Sholapur and from there to Shridi.
You can continue your journey from Tuljapur to Shirdi.
The road up to Tuljapur is really very good. But from Tuljapur to Shirdi , only some parts of the road is terribly bad so much so that you would think your car shock absorbers , even axle rod would be broken.
But this road is presently under repair on a big scale.
This time November second week when I visited Tuljapur , what I expected and what I saw was very different.
It was a huge temple "gopuram" the main entrance that attracts you. It was really a huge construction.
Inside as in many temples all is in quandary. touts harass devotees , perticularly the first timers at will. They misguide you telling that they would take you closest to the deity , and normal darshan in the queue would be quite a distance from the main deity, .They asked us Rs.300/ and rhen someone asked only 150 or some amount like that. Yet another one explained that you would give that amount as donation to the temple and take a receipt as well. The people in the queue advised us to stay in the queue and the darshan of the deity would be just the same.
We stayed in the queue and really darshan of the main deity Goddess Durga Bhavani , is just the same. The distance is almost similar for those who paid to the touts and to us. Like monkeys the touts swing on the queue shed iron rails and jump up and walk on the rails to come out of the queue line , and again probably try to attract some other devotees.
There is a very big courtyard , once you cross this huge main entrance gopuram. On the right side , if you choose to go , you would walk through water flowing in a stone room and come out of it.
After visiting Ganesh , You would walk through another entrance and in to a very huge courtyard with neem tree. You will see many villagers, newly married couples as devotees.
The actual sanctum is a small temple. The main idol is very attractive . you will not forget Tuljapur Durga Bhavani, again in your life time, Priests behave very well. Even with that much rush, you can see Goddesss Durga for much time as you would be coming out in a direction which facilitates to see her all along while coming out. "Durga " , you would feel her presence. There is something very spiritual about this temple, I thought to myself while coming out. The priests put sindur on my forehead very wide.
I did not any see any stone where devotees feel vibration etc., as described in other reviews.