Anand Sagar Project

Anand Sagar  is a garden project that is spread over 325 acres of land in Shegaon. It is one of the most beautiplaces places in this part of the country. It was built by the Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan (or trust) to add beauty and a tourist attraction to Shegaon.

This place is about 15 minutes by Rickshaw from the town and requires about 3-4 full hours to see in its entirety. At the heart lies a peace hall which has been dedicated to the great saints of India. Here's what the official site says:

It is spread on 325 acre of land. It has a huge water reservoir and spread over 55 acres of Land. The land beautifies by planting 50000 trees of different types. An artificial Island of size of 300' x 60' x 40' is created in the center of the Pond. A replica of Swami Vivekanand Center at KanyaKumari is created on the Island. The 60' x 40' hall as Dhyan Kendra was constructed and A statue of Swami Vivekanand of the size of 30'-35' was created and established. To reach there on the Island and pay homage to the great Swamiji the facility of "Nauka-nayan" (Boat service) was made available. To go there and sit at feet of Swami will give necessary "Manah Shanti" (mental peace) and satisfaction. Nature is the unpolluted creation of God almighty. Sadhus (saints) and sanyasis (ascetics) prefer nature. Tapaswis (saints) have their mind concentration and manah shanty (mental peace) in rich natural vanas. Sansthan plans to create such and isolated places which could give them feelings of rich jungles with small kuties to dwell in and water current here and there. So that such people can have unhindered sadhana with the Adhyatmic literature at hand. Mahaprasada also would be available there. It will be called Sadhana Sthali (the places of worship). To spread the preaching of Sant Shri Gajanan Maharaj a unique project of "Light and Sound " show highlighting important events and philosophy of life of Gajanan Maharaj was created. An amphitheatre of 1500 capacity was also developed for this purpose. A big Amphitheatre with the capacity of 3500 seats was created in this project. For organizing cultural activities, exhibitions, and functions. Besides, the above schemes the Sansthan has also create s an Amusement Park and Tourists center. There is no special arrangement in Vidarbha, Marathwada and Khandesh to attract and entertain the Tourists, Darshanarthies or Bhavik Bhaktas (followers). Hence, an amusement center on line of ESSEL WORLD or DISNEY LAND will be tried and constructed here. It will spread on 50 to 60 acres of Land. It will be called Anand Vihar. Amusement park will be place to enjoy and relax for persons of all ages with beautiful landscape spread over 60 acres of land. It will have different types of Restaurants with diverse Indian varieties of Food. Apart from entertainment, it will provide the glimpses of modern sciences and technology. And the entire project will be centered around a religious theme. Sansthan also plans to create and develop water games on international level. A smaller Lake on 15 acres of land will be developed for this water park. Children's Park will also be there it will have mini train, electronic museum, computer toys (electronic toys) and many other such Quite ambitious, i would say. This is all this and more. A must visit!

This is the main reason for coming to Shegaon. The saint is widely reverred by people all over the state of Maharashtra. The temple is clean and is maintained by an army of volunteers from all over. It is quite usual to see large number of pilgrims resting there.

Getting to the temple from the station is about a 20 mins rickshaw drive through some extremely unruly streets. The good part is that the rates are fixed. But dont let the rickshaw drivers talk you into taking up a hotel of their choice. The temple management (called the sansthan) has some excellent staying arrangements. Make sure they take you there.

One word of warning though. The temperatures of this area can reach dizzying heights so make sure you are prepared well. Wearing cotton and light colored clothes is highly advised. Make sure you carry ample amount of water. Not that its a problem in Shegaon, but in the journey it is.