About Dhutpapeshwar Temple & Waterfall

Dhootapapeshwar Temple is situated in the numerous waterfalls of the Mrudani River, in dense green forests, just 5 kms from the Rajapur bus station. Dhootpapeshwar Temple is an ancient sacred shrine in Dhopeshwar village of Rajapur. Dhootpapeshwar means the God who washes away all our sins. This temple is surrounded by attractive nature.  This awakened temple is believed to be more than 900 years old. Few years back, the temple was reconstructed but the wooden carvings of ancient times are kept intact. There is also a Datta Mandir situated near the temple.

The area of the temple is truly beautiful. The road to the temple, away from air pollution, passes through dense forest. In rainy season, the Mrudani river flowing from the hills generates a chain of waterfalls beside the temple. The arial prop roots of hundreds of years old Banyan tree, just outside the temple, resemble like the jatas of Lord Shiva. The peace of mind that can be experienced here along with such clean and pure surroundings is what all devotees come looking for at Dhootpapeshwar.

A beautiful waterfall over Mrudani River is situated near the temple site and is worth visiting. The best time to visit this waterfall is from July to November. During the period there is plenty of water. There is also a Shivaling installed hundreds of years ago under the waterfall which is located on the right side of the temple. It has been very ingeniously carved in the black stone in such a way that the water of the waterfall falls precisely on that Shivling.

Shivlinga in Dhopeshwar temple is swayambhu (self-existed) and part of it is broken. The story behind the broken Shivlinga as told by the priest is as follows:
In the early years, there was a dense forest where Dhutpapeshwar Temple is built. It was an uninhabited place. A milk-giving cow of a brahmin used to graze in this forest. While grazing, this cow used to regularly release the stream of milk on a rock. As a result, the brahmin was not able to get any milk. Brahmin thought that cowherd was stealing the milk. This led to constant quarrel between brahmin and cowherd. Finally, one day, the cowherd kept an eye on cow. At that time, he saw the cow releasing milk on the rock.Annoyed, he hit the rock with his axe. The upper part of rock blew off & fall in Kasarde village in Malkapur & here it became Kapaleshwar Linga. After listening the whole story from the cowherd, the Brahmin ordered to excavate that area from where the Shiv Ling was found. Even today that Swayambhu Shivaling remained in the broken state. Later on, a temple was built around this Shivling.Behind Shri Dhootapeshwar Temple is the temple of Shree Kameshwar (Rakhan Devta). 

People of Dhopeshwar village and devotees celebrate Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Shravan Somwar (Monday of Shravan), Dassehra, Diwali, Mahashivratri and Holi with great enthusiasm and devotion.