Ancient Ganesha shrine in Yavatmal goes under water after 26 years

Nagpur: An underground shrine of Chintamani, a form of Ganesha, situated at the Kalamb town in Yavatmal district, some 120-km away from Nagpur, is witnessing a unique geological phenomenon since October 7.
Water from a natural source that’s under the idol of Chintamani has started moving upwards and coming out in the shrine. In the last 24 hours, almost three feet of this shrine, which is situated 30 feet below the ground level, is filled with this water.Residents claim that this phenomenon used to earlier happen every 12 years. The water level rises till the Chintamani idol and then gradually goes down. “Water continues to rise for 20 days, and later recedes in seven days.” said an 89-year-old local resident.
“Residents of Kalamb and devotees of Lord Ganesha believe that the water is the River Ganga that appears every 12 years to touch the feet of lord Chintamani and disappears later,” said Chandu Chandore, president of the Chintamani temple trust.
“We have been watching this since childhood. It generally happens in the month of Ashwin after every 12 years. However, it did not happen since 1995. We were wondering why it discontinued,” he added.
According to Shailesh Kale, SDO of Kalamb, this is a natural phenomenon well mentioned in the district gazettes right from the British era.
“Once in 12 years, in the Hindu month of Ashwin (Sept-Oct), water from the Ganesh Kund in the temple begins to rise and partially submerges the 4.5-ft idol. This calls for a grand pilgrimage. But looking at the Covid conditions, we have restricted the entry inside the temple,” said Kale.
He also informed that the Yavatmal district administration has already informed the Geological Survey of India (Central Region) Nagpur and a team of experts will visit Kalamb soon to find out the reason behind the phenomenon.
Dr Yogesh Murkute from the Geology department of RTMNU, who is an expert of Hydrogeology, said that this natural phenomenon is well-known in geology. “An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock. There are of different types of aquifers. One of them is the Confined aquifer. The catchment areas of these rocks could be hundreds of kilometres away. It may take years for these rocks to recharge with rainwater. Once recharged fully, water starts coming out from one end of such rocks,” he said.
Dr Murkute recalled similar incidents in Yeola Tehsil of Nashik district where the catchment area of the aquifer was found 190km away from the source. “We need further study of this source too. This may give us astonishing results,” he added.
Piezometric Surface is also a known phenomenon in geology. A senior scientist at the groundwater survey and development Agency (GSDA) Nagpur told TOI that once filled to capacity, water starts releasing with pressure up to some level for some period. “It’s due to the pressure of water between rocks and surfaces. As we are already fetching large quantity of groundwater these days, this exercise may have got delayed by 12 years to 26 years,” the scientist said.
Prof DB Malpe, an expert in economic geology, said that this is the best time to find out the source. “A GSI team of experts will soon find the scientific reason behind the phenomenon. The recharging zone of this outlet could be miles away,” he said.