PLACES

AKOT

Situation: Akot, the headquarters of the Akot tahsil is s municipal town situated in 21° 05' north latitude and 77° 00' east longitude. It is a railway station on the Khandva-Purna metre gauge line of the Central Railway and is situated 28 miles to the north of Akola, the district headquarters. Being the tahsil headquarters, it has the offices ' of the tahsildar and the Block Development Officer. The court of the Civil Judge, Junior Division, is also located at Akot. It has a police station too. The educational facilities to the town populace are provided by Shri Shivaji High School, Shri Narsing Vidyalaya, the Chavan Kanya Shala and the Government Indian English Middle School besides primary schools conducted by the municipality and an Arts college. The branches of the Akola District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd., and the State Bank of India., are located at Akot. Medical facilities are provided by the private medical practitioners and a municipal dispensary. Wells form the main source of water supply. A weekly market is held at Akot on every Wednesday and Sunday. The cotton and agricultural produce market committee was established at Akot in 1898, the commodities regulated being cotton, groundnut and food grains. Lodging facilities to the Government Officials on duty and to other tourists are provided by the Government rest house. The population of Akot as per the Census of 1971 was 41,534 souls.

Municipality: The municipality was established at Akot in 1884. It covers, as per the Census of 1971 an area of 22.61 square km. and is governed under the Maharashtra Municipalities Act, 1965. The municipal council is composed of 20 members with no seat reserved for the scheduled castes or the scheduled tribes or for women.

The total receipts of the municipality in the year 1961-62 amounted to Rs. 642,510 of which receipts from the municipal taxes were to the extent of Rs. 3,10,600, the per capita municipal tax being Rs. 9.87.

The total income of the municipality during the year 1965-66 [During 1973-74 the income and expenditure amounted In Rs. 15,29,000 and Rs. 15,19,000, respectively.] was Rs. 6.09,651 composed of municipal rates and taxes, Rs.,5,50,495; revenue derived from municipal property and powers apart from taxation, Rs. 24,677; grants and contributions from the Government, Rs. 1.95,646 and income from miscellaneous sources, Rs. 38,833.

During the same year the total expenditure of the municipality came to Rs. 7,62,906 and comprised general administration, Rs. 19,052; collection charges, Rs. 94,100; public safety, Rs. 42,790; public health and convenience, Rs. 2,11,575; public works, Rs. 1,92,1 15, public instruction, Rs. 1,67,403 and miscellaneous expenditure Rs. 35,871.

The municipality conducts primary schools and maintains a dispensary. Underground drainage system has not been introduced in the town. The municipalitiy arranges for the disposal of the sewage and night soil. Cremation and burial grounds are maintained by the respective communities.

History: In August 1803 Vyankoji Bholse requested Daulatrav Shinde and Raghuji Bhosle to gather around Akot. General Wellesley also approached Akot with his army. These army movements took place before the battle of Adgaon. Many a time, the rule of the Navab of Ellichpur extended over Akot. It was under Namdar Khan, the Navab of Ellichpur even after he ceded Balapur and surrounding areas to the Nizam to meet the expenses on the contingent army. At the time of the death of Janoji Bhosle in 1772 his wife Daryabai was at Akot. Mudhoji Bhosle came to Akot to see Daryabai. Sabaji Bhosle and Mudhoji Bhosle met each other at Akot and settled their differences in the presence of Daryabai. However, the agreement reached did not last long and the quarrel between the two erupted again. Akot was the place of residence of the commandants of the fortress of Narnala and also of the Phadnavis of the same fortress. The big house (vada) of the former commandant of the fortress, Divakar Bhau which still stands in the town bears testimony to this.

Objects: Of the objects of interest in the town, the most important is the temple dedicated to Narsingbuva about whom the Gazetteer of 1870 has given the following information. [Old Akola District Gazetteer published in 1910]

"The holy man now in the flesh at Akot has only taken over the business, as it were, from a' Muhammadan fakir, whose disciple he was during his life; 'and now that the fakir is dead Narsingbuva presides over' the annual veneration of his slippers" a veneration which still continues. The saint died in 1887 and the building, which was erected by Maroti Ganesh Asalkar at a cost of perhaps Rs. 25,000, was begun before his death. A festival, said to be attended by 20,000 or 25,000 people, is held in Karttik (October-November) and the presence of a Kitson light shows that it is managed with enterprise. Land measuring 120 acres has been made over for the support of the temple, and some income is also derived from a haveli, large private building, given by Maroti for use as a theatre. A printed life of Narsingbuva gives an authoritative account of him. He was a Kunbi, but his mind had so marked a religious bent that in boyhood he used to be seen worshipping stones as gods. However, he was married and had three children. He went daily to a Muhammadan saint, Kuvatali Shah of Umra, and learnt from him. The Muhammadan explained that the only difference between religions was that they named God differently, upon which the Kunbi became his disciple, standing before him as a sign of devotion for 21 days without taking food. Narsingbuva's family had taken refuge in the strong village of Sirsoli, 5 miles from Umra, on account of the Pindaris, and one day news readied him that his mother was dead. Kuvatali Shah divined this and told him to go to her; upon his arrival and amid his lamentations life returned to the corpse and it comforted him and then expired again. Kuvatali Shah then sent him to live at Akot, where he used to spend the day in the jungle playing with the god Vishnu and in the evening would take a little food and smoke a chilum, earthen pipe. An atheist, nastika, once tried to destory the image of Vithoba at Pandharpur by a blow with a cannon-ball, and struck it upon the foot, which straight way began to bleed. Narsingbuva, wearing only a turban of rags and a langoti, took the lead among the horrified worshippers. He applied medicine to the wound and prayed the image to heal itself, which it did, whereon faith was re-established and the atheist died. Gopala, a follower of Narsingbuva, had in his cellar a treasure guarded by a spirit, but Narsingbuva destroyed the spirit and brought out the treasure. He offered it first to his faithful disciple, the sahukar Ganesh or Ganoba Naik, but the latter replied that the company of the saint was wroth more than any treasure, so they left it with Gopala. An incurably vicious cow was once offered to Narsingbuva; he declined the gift but reproved the cow for conduct unbecoming in a goddess; whereon she became quiet and gave no further trouble. Once he bade the wife of Ganoba Naik to die, saying she had already enjoyed all that was good in life and further existence was unnecessary; either she or one of her sons must expire; and upon the day he fixed the pious woman breathed her last. Later he saved her grand-daughter from dying during her marriage ceremony, ordering a cocoanut to be tied to her stomach till she recovered Narsingbuva took upon himself both a skin disease and an ear disease to save men who were suffering from them and came to him for relief. When Ganoba died his son Maroti went to Benares to perform funeral ceremonies, and Narsingbuva gave him a brass ring with injunctions never to part with it. Maroti went to bathe in the river Yamuna and gave the ring to his sister to hold meanwhile, but she lost it. Maroti addressed the river saying he would drown himself if he could not recover the ring, whereupon the Yamuna appeared to him in the form of a woman and told him who had taken if. and where it would be found. Narsingbuva knew all this before Maroti returned. The saint finally died on a day he had foretold, and was buried, at his own command, in a pit just dug for the building of his temple. The body of a Phul Mali saint called Khida is buried near that of Narsingbuva. It was only at the bidding of the latter that the corpse of Khida closed its eyes, and, again at the word of the greater saint, four years after burial it was still whole and ate a morsel of bread The management of the temple funds is still in the hands of Maroti Ganesh.'

The temple was renovated in 1959-60 and is situated at a distance of a quarter of a mile from the S. T. stand. The ownership of the land owned by the temple has gone to the tenants under the tenancy legislations and the temple does not get any income from it. However, the temple gets a rental income of about Rs. 2,500 per month and the expenditure of the temple is met from this income.

The temple has an audience hall in front with three arches each on all three sides. In the inner chamber is the samadhi of Narsingbuva at the centre and the images of Vitthal and Rakhumai are placed on an altar at the back of the samadhi. The flooring of the audience hall as also of the inner chamber is made of white marble. As stated before Narsingbuva was the disciple of a Muhammedan saint Kuvatali Shah of Umra and even at present the green ensign of the Muhammedans is used at the time of the palanquin procession during the fair. The importance of the fair and the attendance too at the fair have dwindled considerably with the passage of time and with fairs losing their commercial importance. But even now many devotees throng the temple at the time of an annual small fair held on Kartik Vadya 6 that lasts for about a month. No caste or community barriers are witnessed among the pilgrims.

The temple of Keshavaraja is an ancient temple and is a solid construction. The audience hall is supported on wooden beams that bear considerable carving. The chandeliers have enhanced the beauty of the temple. Once when the town and the surrounding area were worst hit by drought, Narsing Maharaj Grayed to the god at this temple and it started raining. It was about this temple that Narsing Maharaj said that it has a god that is awake and this will help those in distress.

The old Gazetteer had mentioned that the town had a mud wall and six pates which have now disappeared. It further states '........ the tahsil stands in what used to be the fortress, kila and has a lofty brick gate as an entrance; ............The most striking buildings are some old private houses, the residences of former officials, which have fine wood-carving on a large scale. The best is perhaps Divakar Bhau's divankhana, but the havelis of Sardarsing, who is said to have been in command of Narnala fortress and of the Fadnavis, who is said to have been in charge of the finances of the taluk on behalf of the Bhosles (with the duly, for instance, of paying the Pindari bands), are also good. The latter building has large and strong cellars which were possibly meant for defensive purposes. The sardeshmukh, or chief deshmukh, says that a long underground passage leads from his house to a distant garden. A small hill, called after the tomb of Pir Shah Darya Sahib and having a mosque upon it, was the scene of an attack by the local Rajputs upon the Muhammedans. It happened that a Muhammedan upon the hill jested with a Rajput woman on the roof of a house close by. That night a band of Rajputs came to the gateway in the wall that surrounded the hill, declared that they were Muhammedans, and asked to be admitted. When the door was opened they made a sudden rush and killed a number of the Muhammedans. A less credible story says that an underground passage used to lead from a well, now fallen in, upon the top of the hill to Narnaia, eleven miles away, and that this was proved by the sole survivor of a score of sheep turned loose at Narnala appearing at the bottom of the well. Akot has also some buildings of religious interest. Close to the Akola road on one side is the domed tomb of Gada Narayan, which is very much like the ghumat at Dharud while on the other is the smaller tomb of Mir Najar Karoda with a resident jakir. Both of these, and the Jama masjid, which is not striking, have Persian inscriptions. Gada Narayana was considered a saint by both Muhammedans and Hindus, so that the two religions have joined in giving him a double name, but his personality is now forgotten and his tomb neglected. A descendant of Mir Najar Karoda has an inam for the second tomb and maintains a small urus sacred gathering but again nothing is known about the saint. The tomb of Gaibi Pir close by has a reputation for removing colds and fevers, for which people vow bread and vegetables to the pir. Hindu temples are fairly numerous and of a fair size, but not very fine. That of Nandi Bag has a bull carved in black stone with a fresh garland round its neck; there is a large but plain step-well close by A temple to Nana Sahib of Patur is covered with pictures.'

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