Roughly around that time Aurangjeb, the then Muslim ruler, had established himself in Aurangabad. He had started his attack on and destruction of temples. He had already destroyed the famous Kashi Vishweshwar temple and the Keshav Mandir in Mathura. He continued with his attacks in Marathwada as well.
After his meditation for 12 years in Rajur, Vishnupant Kulkarni left for Kashi and continued his studies under the expert guidance of Shri Dnyanedra Saraswati. After the completion of his studies, he went back to his place and started on a pilgrimage. While he was travelling thus, on the banks of river Godavari, he had a vision and he knew that Lord Parshuram is meditating on Mount Mahendra. On his way back from Rameshwar, Vishnupant Kulkarni visited Dhamani, a place near Chiplun. He stayed there in a cave and continued his prayers and meditation. The Muslim ruler, Nabbab of Janjira was troubling the people in the area then. He was exploiting people and harassing them physically as well. Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj (Descendent of Shivaji Maharaj) was fighting a battle to bring peace in the life of those people. Guru Brahmendraswami helped Rajaram Maharaj in his efforts. Swamiji was influential and could persuade the Nabbab to release two very important Maratha soldiers, Santaji Bhosale and Dhanaji Jadhav from his captivity. Shri Kanhoji Angre, another Maratha warrior too became a disciple of Swamiji. When Kanhoji became the Maratha Admiral of the Navy, Swamiji gave him Rs.74,000/- to build a warship. Later, Rajaram Maharaj won Dhamani and gifted it to Swamiji. Swamiji was popular with the Muslim rulers also. It is evident from the fact that the next Nabbab of Janjira was impressed by him and gave him the two adjoining villages-Ambdas and Pedhe as a gift to Swamiji.
Initially, Swamiji used to stay in the small Parshuram temple. Then in 1708 he started renovation of the temple. The work continued for 10 long years since the temple was on top of the mountain. It was difficult to carry building material to the top. It was difficult to get workers to get as well. Money was scarce. Therefore, Swamiji used to travel to adjoining kingdoms and collect donations from the kings and rulers. Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj took personal interest in the work of the temple. He visited the site several times with his queen. The colossal work of building the temple is a miracle in itself. After completion of the the Parshuram temple in 1718, the Siddhivinayak (Ganesh) temple was built. It was followed by Maruti Temple, Ban Ganga, Gangamata temple and Renukamata temple. Guru Brahmendraswami also built Dharmashala (free lodging for the devotees). A Shiva temple was built and the perennial stream of water was diverted to the Parshuram temple. A temple of Gurudatta was erected near a small lake. Deepmala (a tower of lamps) and Nagarkhana (a place where live music was played every morning and evening) was built. The account books show that Swamiji could collect a huge amount of Rs. 100000/- for the temple. The Siddi of Janjira sent Shri Tambe to assist Swamiji in the management.
Guru Brahmendraswami has contributed, spiritually, to a large extent towards the Maratha kingdom. All the Peshwa rulers were his disciples. Balaji Vishwanath,who later became the first peshwa, had taken shelter with Swamiji after witnessing the cruel deeds of the ruler of Janjira, Siddisat. Swamiji sent the young Balaji to kanhoji Angre and he, in turn, sent him to Chhatrapati. He later became the Peshwa . Peshwa Bajirao, Chmajiappa and other Peshwas became Swamiji’s disciples.
Guru Brahmendraswami was aware of the needs of the local people. He built canals and small dams to overcome the problem of water shortage. The remnants of the walls of the canal can be still seen in the villages.
He brought some priests for the rituals in the temple. Slowly, the area around the temple was populated by people from all castes and creed. The villages gifted to Swamiji provided the necessary resources for the temple administration and for the people living there. The colossal work of Swamiji is evident from the historical documents and manuscripts, and from his letters written in Modi language. He was revered not only by local people and by his devotees but also by his enemies. It is said that once, the Siddi of Janjira attacked the Parshuram temple and destroyed everything after stealing the temple treasures. However, later, he was scared of Swamiji and offered to return the treasure. Of course, Swamiji denied it and rebuilt the temple.
Guru Brahmendraswami lived a long, blissful life of 96 years. He died on 26th July 1745 on the banks of river Krishna. In hisnlater days, at the age of 72 he shifted to Satara on the behest of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, since it was difficult fo Swamiji to travel that far frequently. The Chhatrapati gave him three villages- Dhavdashi, Veermade and Aanewadi- as a gift. Swamiji created a replica of the Parshuram temple in Dhavdashi spending Rs. 200000/-. Another temple of Meru Linga was built by him on a mountain 4000 ft. high. In Sholapur, a temple of Bhuleshwar was built. In his native place, Rajur, he built temples as well as mosques. To provide livelihood to the unemployed, he built lakes. Tree plantation campaigns were also run by him in Maharashtra. He is credited with the first Cooperative Society to fight problems like famine.
His memorable work towards preserving the legacy of Lord Parshuram is noteworthy. It is because of him that we are blessed with the opportunity to know Lord Parshuram and his great deeds.
The idols in the Parshuram temple have been replaced by the trustees in 1994 since the originals were damaged due to rituals and time. The present ones are a gift from Advocate Atre from Sholapur.
