Mahadev Temple

The temple is situated between the village and the river. It has a shrine, a verandah and small saracenic scalloped arches. The 18 ft long verandah is covered with leaves and cones. The length of the whole structure is about 38 ft. Leaves and cones surround the verandah arches. A broad wall carved in arabesques is present beyond these arches. The height of the building, including the brick spire, is around 40 ft. The spire also has an urn-shaped pinnacle at the top. The edges of the basin on which the urn rests are carved in a pattern of lotus leaves. Similar smaller pinnacles are at the corners of the shrine and the mandap. The temple stands on a plinth about 2 ft higher from the ground. Under a canopy surmounted by a dome, stands a well-carved, polished basalt Nandi. The Nandi is seated on the back of a tortoise, which is in the act of swimming. The tortoise rests on a circular basement and the sides and the margin of the basement represent the fringe of the lotus flower. Apart from the main temple, there are four more temples dedicated to Narasimha, Ganapati, Lakshmi and Vishnu, around the temple. These deities are said to have been carved from yellow marble that was imported from Agra. There is another temple that stands outside representing the Shiv Panchayatan. While four heads face the four directions, the fifth head is tilted upwards to face heaven. The temple dedicated to Narasimha is built in a different way. The temple has a circular basement and a 6 ft high octagonal plinth and has a structure made of stucco and wood. This structure is supposed to represent an umbrella. Mahadev Shivram, a moneylender from Pune, built all these temples in 1780 AD. Attributed to the last Peshva, Bajirav II (1796-1817) a small Ram temple is located to the right of these temples.