Mahadev Temple, Tambdi Surla
Encyclopedia
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
temple of the lord Mahadeva and an active place of Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
worship. It notable as the oldest temple in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
.
History
The temple was likely built circa 1271 by Hemadri, the minister of the Yadava king Ramachandra. There are some interesting details about the Jain style construction which has led to debates about the origins of the temple, since the Kadamba Dynasty ruled Goa between the tenth and fourteenth centuries. The temple is built in the Hemadpanthi
Hemadpanthi
Hemadpanthi Sculpture is an architectural form or a style, which is named after its introducer and founder, the prime minister named Hemadpant in the court of Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri. The period of discovery was during the 13th Century in Maharashtra. Main ingredients in the construction include...
style from the finest weather-resistant grey-black basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
, carried across the mountains from the Deccan plateau
Deccan Plateau
The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in India, making up the majority of the southern part of the country. It rises a hundred meters high in the north, rising further to more than a kilometers high in the south, forming a raised triangle nested within the familiar downward-pointing triangle of...
and lavishly carved in situ by accomplished craftsmen. It is considered to be the only specimen of Kadamba-Yadava architecture in basalt stone preserved and available in Goa. The temple survived Muslim invasions and Portuguese persecution
Goa Inquisition
The Goa Inquisition was the office of the Inquisition acting in the Indian state of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774–1778, and finally abolished in 1812. The Goan Inquisition is considered a blot on the history of...
in its almost perfect condition mainly due to its remote location in a clearing deep in the forest at the foot of the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
which surround the site in a sheer wall of impenetrable vegetation.
Religious significance and decoration
The small, beautifully carved and perfectly proportioned black basalt temple is dedicated to Lord ShivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and is reminiscent of the temples at Aihole
Aihole
Aihole is a temple complex in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It is a very popular tourist spot in north Karnataka. It lies to the east of Pattadakal, along the Malaprabha River, while Badami is to the west of both....
in neighbouring Karnataka. There is a linga (symbol of Lord Shiva) mounted on a pedestal inside the inner sanctum, and local legend has it that a huge king cobra
King Cobra
The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m . This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia...
is in permanent residence in the dimly lit interior.
The temple consists of garbhagriha
Garbhagriha
Garbhagriha or Garbha griha is the small unlit shrine of a Hindu temple.Garbhagriha or ' is a Sanskrit word meaning the interior of the sanctum sanctorum, the innermost sanctum of a Hindu temple where resides the murti of the primary deity of the temple...
, antarala
Antarala
Antarala is a small antichamber or foyer between the garbhagriha and the mandapa, more typical of north Indian temples....
and a pillared Nandi mandapa
Mandapa
A mandapa in Indian architecture is a pillared outdoor hall or pavilion for public rituals.-Temple architecture:...
built of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
. The four pillars, embellished with intricate carvings of elephants and chains support a stone ceiling decorated with finely carved Ashtoken
Nelumbo nucifera
Nelumbo nucifera, known by a number of names including Indian Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Bean of India, or simply Lotus, is a plant in the monogeneric family Nelumbonaceae...
lotus flowers.
The intricate carvings created by skilled craftsmen adorn the interior and the sides of the building. Bas-relief figures of Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
and Lord Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, with their respective consorts
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
appear on panels at the sides of the temple. Surprisingly, the mandap (pillared hall) is covered with a roof of plain grey sloping slabs. The temple faces east so that the first rays of the rising sun shine on the deity. There is a small mandap and the inner sanctum is surmounted by a three-tired tower whose top is incomplete or has been dismantled sometime in the distant past.
There is a headless Nandi (bull, Shiva's vehicle) in the centre of the mandap, surrounded by four matching columns. The symbol of the Kadamba kingdom, an elephant trampling a horse is carved on the base of one of the columns. The river Surla flows nearby and can be reached for ritual bathing by a flight of stone steps.
The festival of Mahashivratri is celebrated with pomp and gaiety at the temple by local people residing in surrounding villages. The temple is built in a place which is quite inaccessible and away from the main settlements of the time. The temple is quite small compared to the average Goan temple.
Location
Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park
Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park is a protected area located in the Western Ghats of South India, in Sanguem taluk, Goa along the eastern border with Karnataka....
.
Mahadev Temple is approximately 65 kilometres (40.4 mi) from the capital city of Panaji. It is accessible from the north via minor roads 22 kilometres (13.7 mi) south from the main town of Valpoi
Valpoi
Valpoi or Valpoy is a city and a municipal council in North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is the headquarters of the Sattari Taluk. The Western Ghats are to the east of the town.- Demographics :...
in Sattari
Sattari
Sattari is a taluka on North East side of Goa known for its greenary and dense forest. Its headquarters is Valpoi . It is the 'Fenny capital' of Goa. The Western Ghats form the eastern part of the Sattari Taluka. The Mhadei River is considered to be the lifeline of Sattari. It has a...
Taluka. The temple is at the foot of the Anmod
Anmod
Anmod is a town at the Goa-Karnataka border.Some of the oldest rocks in the Indian subcontinent are found in Anmod on Goa's border with Karnataka...
Ghat, which connects Goa to the state of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
.
Directions
From the border crossing post of MollemMollem
Mollem is a village in the municipality of Asse, Flemish Brabant, Belgium.It used to be a town on its own but now is a part of Asse.Mollem has a railway station on line 60 between Jette and Dendermonde.The hamlet of Bollebeek is close to the village....
on National Highway 4A go 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest on Tambdi Surla Road, bear right at the fork in the road. After 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) turn right (east) at sign for Barabhumi Village on to a single lane road. Go another 8 kilometres (5 mi) east. Past the Shanti Nature Resort, the temple's small parking area is at end of the road. The temple is in an open field, 0.2 kilometre (0.124274547329961 mi) walk across a small bridge and up a small hill.