Puntamba

Puntamba
—  town  —
Coordinates
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District(s)	Ahmednagar
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)

Puntamba | पुणतांबा is a market town with a very long history. The town is situated on the banks of the Godavari river in Rahata taluka, Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra in India. The 14th and the final resting place of the sage Changdev is located in this village.It is village of Old Temples and also known for traditional schools that specialize in study of the Hindu scriptures or the Vedas.

History of Name

It is believed that the name of the village was formed by merging two town places 'Punyastambha' and 'Tambilindanapur'.The family name, Puntambekar comes from this town.

Transport

The village is served by a rail link between Manmad & Daund. There is also a train line linking Puntamba to Shirdi.

The old town is enclosed by a Defensive wall ('Tatabandi') which is now in a bad state of disrepair. There are also a number of traditional houses with large enclosed courtyards called "vada" in the village.

Economy

In modern times, large number of residents of the town are involved in Horticulture. Facilities and businesses in the town include a State Transport bus-stand, a post and telegraph office, two commercial banks, six credit co-operative societies, a godown for storing grains and seven Doctor's offices, and veterinary dispensary. The weekly market is held on every Monday. Wells and the Godavari river form the sources of water-supply. The educational institutions include an agricultural school with 200 acres of land, five primary schools, two high schools and three libraries. There is also a traditional gym called akhada or talim.

Religious institutions, Places of worship and pilgrimage

The town has two pilgrim guest-houses (dharmashalas), three Hindu monasteries (math), a Christian church, a dargah (resting placing of a Sufi saint) and four mosques. Puntamba has sixteen temples of Maruti, six temples of Mahadev, three temples of Vitthal, two temples of Datta, and one each of Laxmi-Narayan and Changdev Maharaj. There are low flights of steps or ghats to the Godavari one of which was built by Ahilyabai Holkar, the great temple-building Queen of Indore (1765–1795) and another by one Shri Shivram Dumal.

Changdev Temple

The main temple of Changdev was built in the mid 1700s.

Though very old, the temple of Changdev Maharaj is a simple structure with a mandap of 50'x30', open on all sides and covered with a roof of corrugated iron sheets having slope on four sides supported by a wooden frame and ten uncarved wooden pillars about eight feet in height. There is a small quadrangular gabhara wherein small idols of Vitthal and Rakhumai of black stone, facing east are placed. One can enter the gabhara (Inner sanctum)through a small door. However, one cannot see the samadhi (tomb) of Changdev which is just behind the backwall of the inner sanctum. The samadhi is built in well-dressed black stone in a quadrangular form of 6'x4' and paved with marbles, at the centre of which two foot-prints of marble are placed on a little raised platform under a small dome of about 4 feet in height. One has to ascend a flight of steps to see the foot-prints. The temple including the samadhi is surrounded by a wall 100'X70' built in mud and stone at a distance of about 10' on all the sides of the temple. The Godavari river which flows to the west of the temple provides a delightful scenic background during the monsoonseason ( June - October) but is reduced to a trickle by January. The temple holds its annual fair in Kartik (October–November). It is attended by about twenty-five thousand people from all over the district.

Famous Personalities

Ramchandra N. Chitalkar, also known as C. Ramchandra, the Hindi film Music Director who composed many all time favourites of 1940s & 1950s was born in Puntamba in the year 1918.