Palshi Jhansi keeps 175-yr-old Maha Roth tradition alive on Mahashivratri

Akola: In a rare blend of faith, discipline and community devotion, the small border village of Palshi Jhansi (Sangrampur taluka) in Buldhana district continues its 175-year-old tradition of preparing a massive Maha Roth on the night of Mahashivratri at the historic Shankar Giri Maharaj Temple.Villagers gather every year to prepare an enormous sacred offering weighing nearly 11.50 quintal using wheat flour, sugar, dry fruits, milk and pure ghee.
According to the traditional practice, devotees begin arriving at the temple from the evening of Mahashivratri, offering ingredients for the sacred preparation as a mark of devotion. This year, nearly 350 quintal wheat flour, over 300 quintal sugar, two quintal dry fruits, about 1.25 quintal pure ghee and around 1.25 quintal milk was collected for the ritual, from which the massive Maha Roth is prepared.The preparation follows strict religious discipline. All ingredients are first mixed thoroughly in large iron vessels. The dough is then shaped layer by layer into a huge circular form, measuring nearly four to five feet in diameter. The giant Roth is wrapped in a white cotton cloth and later covered with banana leaves.Around 50 to 60 villagers take part in the process after performing ritual purification and abhishek. During the preparation, they avoid physical contact with outsiders and maintain silence and spiritual discipline throughout the ritual.After the Roth is prepared, a 9-by-9-foot pit, nearly five feet deep, is prepared on the temple premises. Cow-dung cakes are set ablaze inside the pit, and at around 1am, the massive circular Roth is placed into the burning pit. It is taken out between 6am and 6.30am the next morning.Devotees consider it a divine phenomenon that even after remaining in the blazing fire for nearly five and a half hours, the white cloth wrapped around the Roth does not burn. The faithfuls believe this to be the grace of Shankar Giri Maharaj.The removal of Roth from the pit is itself a major spectacle. Heavy iron chains are used, and more than 100 villagers jointly pull it out amid loud chants of "Maharaj ki Jai". The sacred offering is then distributed to devotees as Mahaprasad on the following day.Pilgrims from all Vidarbha districts, several parts of Maharashtra and neighbouring Madhya Pradesh visit Palshi Jhansi every year to witness the unique ritual and receive the sacred prasad. The village lies close to the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh border at the foothills of Satpura range, giving the annual Mahashivratri gathering the scale of a major rural pilgrimage.Speaking to TOI over the phone, Shankar Giri Maharaj Sansthan president Gulabrao Marode said the centuries-old tradition continues to be carried forward with the same devotion by the younger generation.He said the temple and the spiritual institution of Shankar Giri Maharaj have existed in the village for over 350 years. The Shiva lingam at the temple was established by Shankar Giri Maharaj himself, and he performed years of worship and meditation under large banyan trees on the campus. Shankar Giri Maharaj attained samadhi in 1935, but the sacred tradition of preparing the Maha Roth on the night of Mahashivratri, initiated by him, continues to grow in scale and faith every year."This is not merely a ritual of preparing prasad. It reflects our collective devotion and emotional bond with Maharaj," Marode said, adding that the tradition will be preserved for future generations.