Shri Kopeshwar Temple, MH - richly ornate and dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu, both in Linga form!!

Kopeshwar temple Khidrapur, MH Alamy.com

There are scores of amazing  Hindu temples across India that lie either in isolated places or just  in small nondescript  villages /towns.  They  are a repository of fascinating and  inspiring  architectural  features that lie hidden  and  unexplored to the fullest.  In such temples your imagination may run riot and go on an odyssey in the imaginative world of architecture. 

Kopeshwar temple Khidrapur, MH tripoto.com

Kopeshwar temple Khidrapur, MH tripoto.com

Khidrapur, a small village  about 22 Kms from NarsobaWadi, Maharashtra  is one such a place where  Kopeshwar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is a popular one.  Khidrapur is 20 km away from Nrushinhawadi, 75 km from Belgaum and  56 km from Kolhapur.

 Built on the bank of River Krishna,  Shri Kopeshwar Temple (Khidrapur Cave) is about 1700 years old.  Artistically and aesthetically rich, this treasure trove is not well publicized and obviously visitors who love Indian temple architecture and related stuff make a visit to this temple. Also known as  the Khajuraho of Maharashtra, all around the temple one can see a variety of nicely carved   figures of Indian gods, goddesses in the Hindu Pantheon, besides dancers with various postures, musicians, animals like  elephants. Upon visit, it is said, the awe-struck visitors will be for a few days  haunted by the sculptural excellence and mastery of this temple.

Quite unknown is the presence of two sanctums -garbhagrihas enshrined with Shiva Linga. Yet another surprise is the temple does not have Shiva's mount/vahana- Nandi (Rishabam)

The temple legend goes to the story of revelry between Daksha whose daughter Sati is Shiva's consort.  Once Daksha conducted a Yagna and never  invited the couple. In rage Sati  visited her father with Nandi. Unable to brook the insults heaped on her by her father Sati committed self-immolation in the the fire of Yagna.  Upon hearing the sad incident and the death of Sati Lord punished Daksha by severing his head. Lord Vishnu pacified Shiva and  brought him to Khidrapur Temple  .Hence the temple has two sanctums -  Kopeshwar (wrathful god Shiva) and Dhopeshwar (Vishnu being pacifier).

The temple’s shikhar has a unique design not seen  in other Shiva temples. The sanctum (sanctorum) has two lingas and the temple does not have a Nandi. According to locals the first Linga represents Vishnu as ‘Dhopeshwar’ and the second Linga represents Shiva as ‘Kopeshwar’ !

The temple legend goes to the story of revelry between Daksha whose daughter Sati is Shiva's consort.  Once Daksha conducted a Yagna and never  invited the couple. In rage Sati  visited her father with Nandi. Unable to brook the insults heaped on her by her father Sati committed self-immolation in the the fire of Yagna.  Upon hearing the sad incident and the death of Sati Lord punished Daksha by severing his head. Lord Vishnu pacified Shiva and  brought him to Khidrapur Temple to subdue his rage and anger. Hence the temple has two sanctums -  Kopeshwar ( Shiva) and Dhopeshwar (Vishnu being pacifier).

Explanation for the absence of Nandi is when Sati went to Daksha's Ashram, Nandi  was not with God Shiva. However there is a separate shrine for Nandi nearby.

Entry view of Khidrapur templecommons.wikimedia.org


Kopeshwar temple Khidrapur, Swarga mantap with open ceiling
inditales.com

The Swarg mandap is an important part the temple and it is  supported by 48  artistically rich and ornate  stone pillars with the ceiling open to the sky, so that the smoke from the Yagna (conducted by Daksha  could escape through the open ceiling when the yagna was on. 

According to countless visitors, this place is a sermon in stone like a few temples of Hampi, Karnataka, and Srirangam/Thiruvanaikaval of Tamil nadu.  Amazing sculptures galore, comprising various gods, goddess and apsaras, there are  108 stone carved ornate pillars in the interior supporting the  entire structure. The fascinating aspect is none of the pillars are similar to each other.

Figurines of Gods, Goddesses, Yaksha, Gandharva, Apsara, Surasundari, animals, motifs etc  dominate the interior and they are well  carved on the walls, on the kirtimukha of the pillars. The nice carvings include episodes from the  epics of Ramayana, Mahabharata and also from Panchatantra.The last one seldom found in other temples.

Kopeshwar temple Khidrapur, MH 

There are so beautiful carvings of elephants all around the temple - as many as 95 of them  in different styles and postures.  The elephants  at the lower level carry the  gods on them and it looks as if  the weight of the entire temple is borne by  these elephants. This mesmerizing feature bears testimony to the workmanship and artistic talents of the sculptors of past era.

The temple walls -exterior mandovara have rich decorations in the form of  friezes  depicting carved sculptures of celestial, gods, goddesses, animals, yali - Vyaals  (mythical beasts), Gaja (elephants) etc

https://www.tripoto.com/kolhapur/trips/kopeshwar-unique-shiva-temple-without-nandi-5e8d626ce602d

http://www.kolhapurtourism.org/our-destination/khidrapur/




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