History Of India History Of Temples Gondeshwar mandir

 

Gondeshwar Mandir, Sinnar

                 Gondeshwar Temple is a temple of Lord Shiva located in Sinnar taluka of Nashik district in the state of Maharashtra. The Government of India declared this temple as a National Protected Monument in Maharashtra on March 4,  Declared 1909.

                  The ancient Gondeshwar temple at Sinnar, built in the southern style in the early 12th century, is a fine example of architecture. The temple was built by Gawli Prince Rajgovind. Some sources said that, the temples built on the Deccan Plateau are usually made of black stone. But this temple is an Acharya, this temple is made of pink vesicular rocks. This has given the temple a natural pink color. When you see the temple, you will notice that the erosion of the vesicular rock is early. It is also difficult to carve on it. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average person.

                   

       This temple is a perfect example of ancient land architecture. It is truly unique in design, perfect in proportion and the stone carvings are exquisitely beautiful. This temple is 125 feet Χ 95 feet. This temple is called Shaiv ​​Panchayat as it is a group of five main temples. The main Shiva temple of Gondeshwar is in the middle and the surrounding temples have four sub-divisions of Parvati, Ganapati, Surya and Vishnu.

                  The temple has an assembly hall (sabhamandap) and a main chamber (gabhara). The pillared assembly hall carved with tortoise, the Kurma Avatar of Lord Vishnu, on the ground, is small, elegant and unique in this part of the country, built on the sanctum, the sky-scraping peaks of the temple are very beautiful and are adorned with exquisite carvings. In the sanctum sanctorum is a linear Shivlinga. The pillars of the assembly hall are engraved and on them and on the walls of the temples are depicted deities, Gandharva-Apsaras, myths and events from Ramayana. The sculptures in the temple are three-dimensional and the look of the temple is enhanced by the reflections of light and shadow falling on it.

               

back side of the temple

                 Many devotees come to this temple on the occasion of Rath Saptami and worship the sun. The architecture of the temple is so perfect that the sunrays came exactly on the shivlinga in main chamber of the temple.  Also, the students make a resolution to worship the sun by removing the sun mask in the temple premises.

                   Another feature of this temple is that after anointing the deity in the sanctum sanctorum, the holy water that carries it is released outside the temple where the crocodile's face is sculpted. In many temples we see cow's mouth (gomukh) sculpted and water comes out of it. Water from Gomukha is considered sacred. But this Gomukh appears after the 13^th century AD. Before that, the crocodile's mouth is carved and the holy water comes out of the crocodile's mouth. But this is the vehicle of the Ganges. The crocodile seems to be carved to explain the relationship between the crocodile's Ganges and the water coming out of his mouth.