Mahadeva Temple, Kokamthan, Maharashtra

Mahadeva Temple, Kokamthan, Maharashtra

Mahadeva Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Kokamthan Village in Kopargaon Taluk in Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra, India. The temple is believed to be built in 13^th century CE. The temple is situated on the bank of Godavari river. The temple is one of the state protected monuments in Maharashtra declared by Archaeological Survey of India.

The Temple

This temple is facing towards north and follows a star shaped plan. The temple follows Hemadpanti style of architecture. The temple consists of sanctum, antrala and sabha mandapa with three entrance porches on the western, northern, and eastern side. The eastern entrance porch has been converted into a shrine. An image of Garuda is carved above the doorways of the western & northern porches and the sanctum. The carving of Garuda indicates that the temple might have been originally intended for Lord Vishnu.

An image of Ganesha is carved above the doorway of the eastern shrine. The superstructure over the sabha mandapa and sanctum are built with mix of stones and bricks. The shikara is decorated with miniature shikaras similar to Bhumija style of architecture. The northern porch has a plain spiral ceiling while the western porch has a cusped ceiling. The sabha mandapa has no free-standing pillars.

The ceiling of the sabha mandapa is domical, rising in rings of conclave mouldings to a central pendent rosette which falls again as a finial. Each group of cup shaped cusped mouldings, in the three tiers of the pendant, has a separate finial of its own. There are eight figure brackets around the inside of the dome, six of which holding dancing figures below being musicians. There is a niche on either side in the wall of the antrala.

The ceiling of the antrala is domical, rising in plain conclave and concentric mouldings to a central rosette which falls again as a pendant in two tiers of cusped mouldings. The doorway of the sanctum is intricately carved. There are five niches enshrining goddesses above the doorway. The sanctum enshrines a Shiva Linga. A slab with a carving of Anandha Sayana Vishnu reclining on Adisesha can be seen behind the Linga. The eastern shrine houses a slab with withered image painted in red. Locals call this image as Jagadamba Devi.

Connectivity

The temple is located at about 6 Kms from Kopargaon Bus Stand, 7 Kms from Kopargaon, 8 Kms from Sanvatsar Railway Station, 91 Kms from Nashik, 94 Kms from Nashik Airport, 107 Kms from Ahmednagar, 111 Kms from Aurangabad and 242 Kms from Mumbai. The temple is situated on Aurangabad to Mumbai route immediately after Sanvatsar.

Location