A History of the Mahrattas v1.c9.101

v1.c9.101

manic pantheon. Tuljāpur is now the headquarters of the tāluka of the same name in the Osmānābād District, Hyderābād State, and is twenty-eight miles from Sholāpur. The temple of Bhavānī stands in a ravine at the base of the Bālaghāt, which divides the Deccan from the plain country. It is the reputed scene of the death of the buffalo-demon, Mahēshāsūra, who was slain by the goddess. An important jatra, or fair, takes place annually at the temple on the full-moor. of the Dasahra festival. A tradition exists that no Musalman or Hindu at Tuljāpur dare sleep on a bed, this honour being reserved for the goddess alone, who is put to bed every night by the officiating priests of the temple. (I.G. (1908), xxiv. 53; Historic and Descriptive Sketch of the Nizam's Dominions, by Syed Hossain Bilgrami and C. Willmott, (1884), ii. 735.)