Marinaupu at 05:19, 22 August 2025

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{{Short description|Hindu temple in Nashik, Maharashtra}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox mandir
|native_name_lang=Mar
|image=Kalaram Temple Nashik Corner View.jpg
|caption=Kalaram temple's side view
|religious_affiliation=[[Hinduism]]
|deity=[[Rama]], [[Sita]], and [[Lakshmana]]
|tradition=[[Vaishnavism]]
|organisational_status=Active
|functional_status=Active
|festival=• [[Rama Navami]]
• [[Navaratri]]
• [[Diwali]]
|location=Panchavati, Nashik
|district=[[Nashik district]]
|state=[[Maharashtra]]
|country=India
|elevation_m=577
|coordinates={{coord|20|00|25|N|73|47|42|E}}
|map_caption=Kalaram mandir in Nashik
|map_relief=Right
|width=13 m
|length=24 m
|materials=Balck stone, chalk
|name=Kalaram Temple
|native_name=काळा राम मंदिर
|website=https://shrikalaramsansthannasik.org
|governing_body=Shri Kalaram mandir sansthan, Nashik
|map_type=India Maharashtra
|map_alt=Nasik
}}

'''Kalaram Temple,''' is a [[Hindu temple]] in [[Nashik]] of [[Nashik district]] in Maharashtra, dedicated to the deity [[Shri Ram|Rama]]. It is a temple situated in Panchavati area of the Nashik. The temple derives its name from a black statue of [[Rama]]. The literal translation of ''kalaram'' is "black Rama". The [[Garbhagriha|sanctum sanctorum]] also houses the statues of the goddess [[Sita]] and the god [[Lakshmana]]. Thousands of devotees visit the temple every day.

==History ==
{{Main|History of Nashik}}
The original temple dedicated to an unknown deity was very old, estimated to be of the Rashtrakuta Period from the 7th to 11th centuries. However, the claimed antiquity of the Rama [[Murti|idol]], which was more than 2000 years old, has not been verified. According to an anecdote, during the early Turkish invasions, the idol of the deity was thrown into the Godavari River by the Temple Brahmins to save it. One Sardar Rangarao Odhekar funded the new temple which was rebuilt around the 1700s. It is claimed that once Odhekar had a dream that the statue of Rama in black color was in the [[Godavari River]]. He carried out an expedition to revive the idol and miraculously got it. Odhekar took the statue from the river and requested a saint for the reconsecration of the statue as per the instructions of God in the dream. After that Odhekar built the temple. Odhekar's expedition is an important part of Nashik's history.<ref name="Melton2014">{{cite book|author=J. Gordon Melton|title=Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History [4 Volumes]: 5,000 Years of Religious History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bI9_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1355|date=15 January 2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-026-3|pages=1355–}}</ref> There is a statue of Sardar Odhekar in the temple.

According to ancient epic of the [[Ramayana]], Rama was sent in exile for fourteen years. After the tenth year of exile, Rama along with Lakshmana and Sita, lived for two and half years on the northern bank of the [[Godavari]] near Nasik. This place is known as [[Panchavati]].

===B.R. Ambedkar's Kalaram Mandir Satyagrah===
The temple came middle of the conflict caused by [[Satyagraha]] organised and led by [[B.R. Ambedkar]]. Now it is known as ''Kalaram mandir satyagraha.'' Ambedkar organised a large protest outside this temple on 2 March 1930, in order to enter into the temple.<ref name="Kshīrasāgara1994">{{cite book|author=Rāmacandra Kshīrasāgara|title=Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders, 1857-1956|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wx218EFVU8MC&pg=PA123|date=1 January 1994|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.|isbn=978-81-85880-43-3|pages=123–}}</ref><ref name="Jadhav2005">{{cite book|author=K.N Jadhav|title=Dr. Ambedkar and the Significance of His Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9o3rZNud9oIC&pg=PA93|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-329-8|pages=93–}}</ref> Many [[Dalit]] protesters arrived to the town by trucks, they surrounded the temple and sat around it. They sang songs, often raised war cries, demanded to enter in the temple. The people of Nashik boycotted the protesters. On the day of [[Rama Navami]] 9 April 1930, the Dalit protesters tried to stop the temple ''[[Ratha Yatra|ratha yatra]]''; fights and stone pelting began between the higher caste Hindus and the Dalit protesters, later Ambedkar reached at the riot spot, he and other all the protesters suffered minor injuries. Somehow a protester named Bhaskar Kendre broke the police cordon who were protecting the temple and enter in it and fell on the floor. This satyagraha ran till 1935.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 April 2018 |title=काळाराम सत्याग्रह आणि डॉ. आंबेडकर |url=https://maharashtratimes.com/maharashtra/nashik/kalaram-satyagraha-and-dr-ambedkar/articleshow/63750408.cms |access-date=2 March 2023 |website=[[Maharashtra Times]]}}</ref>

==Temple complex==
{{more citations needed|section|date=November 2024}}
The main entrance has a black idol of [[Hanuman]].There is also a very old tree that has [[Dattatreya]]'s footprint impressions marked on a stone.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shree Kalaram Mandir|url=https://shrikalaramsansthannasik.org/english/index.html |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=shrikalaramsansthannasik.org|publisher=Shree Kalaram Mandir Trust|language=en}}</ref> Pilgrims visit the Kapaleshwar Mahadev temple near the Kalaram Temple.

Hanuman's temple is designed in such a way that, Rama's idol can be visible from Hanuman's idol.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}Main temple of Rama has 14 steps, which represents 14 years of Rama's exile.
Also, the temple has 84 pillars.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Hinduism}}
* {{Official website|https://shrikalaramsansthannasik.org/english/index.html}}

{{coord|20.0069387|73.7955010|display=title}}

{{Hindu temples in Maharashtra}}

[[Category:Hindu pilgrimage sites in India]]
[[Category:18th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:Hindu temples in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Nashik]]
[[Category:Rama temples]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Nashik]]

Kalaram Temple - Revision history

Marinaupu at 05:19, 22 August 2025