
One of the things I love about India is the element of complete surprise. No matter how many times you have been to an area or done extensive internet research prior to arriving at a destination, there is always something new and unexpected to stumble across.
Having now been to the Pune area on 20 separate occasions in the last 15 years, I was starting to wonder if I had exhausted new heritage places to visit that would be of interest to me. The Pateshwar Shiva temple complex was a completely unknown location to me until this year, and is a timely reminder that in reality I’ve probably only scratched the surface of potential locations to visit around Pune.
Pateshwar is located 12 km south-east from Satara. Having reached the small village of Degaon via the MIDC road, a 3 km drive up a twisty narrow ghat road takes you to the end of your drive and the start of a short and easy 1km trek that runs along the crest of a hill heading east. Pateshwar can be found on Google maps, and the road you need to take is clearly marked on it.
The location certainly has a remote feeling to it, and the chances are you will not come across many people on your visit. The temple complex is revered by the people of Satara and its adjoining villages, but they only visit this place during Shivratri and on Mondays of the Hindu month of Shravan.
There are a few temples to visit at Pateshwar with a short walk between them. I’ve produced a simplistic map of the complex using both internet resources and my memory which should ensure you don’t miss out on anything that this site has to offer. You can click on the image to view a larger version of it.

Having parked your car, continue on foot heading east (away from the road) and you will shortly come to a statue of Ganesh accompanied by Riddhi and Siddhi, his wives, by a short flight of steps.


Shortly beyond the flight of steps the path evens out and you’re walking along the top of the ridge. The views are spectacular, I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to do this short trek during or just after the monsoon season. I would imagine this area is blessed with quite a few wild flowers similar to the Kaas Plateau, but sadly in January I wasn’t going to blessed with any of that.

After an easy 1km trek you will come to a large tank on your right and the start of the Shiva temple complex at Pateshwar.

Main Shiva Temple
Take the path around the east side of the tank and up a flight of stairs to the main Shiva Temple which is located near the top of the hill surrounded by a wall. The main temple does in fact have two entrances, the one to the north (which I took), and another on the eastern side via a flight of steps that hardly seems to be used.
Prior to entering the north entrance be sure not to miss the second largest Shiva Pindi in the complex which is located in the temple verandah to your left, and also a massive Hanuman sculpture slightly hidden away in the verandah on your right.


Also on your right on the outer plinth under a ficus tree there is Shiva pindi and a wonderful sculpture of Garuda.
Accompanying the main temple here are three smaller temples, a nandi mandap, and two large Dwipstambhas (lamp posts).



Whatever you do, don’t dismiss these smaller temples. Take a look inside, they have some exquisite and unusual carvings.


The interesting carvings continue inside the main temple, despite the fabric of the interior remaining relatively plain and simple.

I visited the Pateshwar Shiva temple complex with a group of people, but tried to experience the place on my own and at my own pace. My overriding feeling was a sense of peace and tranquility, although exactly why this particular site was chosen remains a mystery to me.
Likewise, you won’t find much information on this place on the internet, so it’s entire history remains clouded unfortunately. From some of the architecture it appears as though some of the structures were built around the 16th century, but as we will see next, some of the temples almost certainly have much earlier origins.
Agnivrush (or Agnivrish) Temple
Retrace your steps down to the main tank, turn right and continue on the path you were previously on for a short while, heading east once again. Before long you will reach the Agnivrush Temple, and a cluster of four cave temples set behind.
The outer wall of the Agnivrush temple has a statue of Hanuman, and it’s interesting that whilst clearly this is a standalone building, the interior does very much have a cave-like feeling to it.
But it is the interior that houses an interesting and (for me) unique sculpture that is both spellbinding, mysterious, and quite unlike anything I have come across before in India.


This mysterious Agnivrish appears to manifest the seven hands of Lord Agni along with the body of a bull (Vrishabha). Agni is describe in the Vedas as having two heads, seven hands, and three legs. If you observe the deity from the front you can identify all of these aspects. You can see two faces (one human and one bull), seven hands, and three legs (with two human legs and one bull leg).


The Rig Veda 4.58.3 describes Agni as follows :
“Four are his horns, three are the feet that bear him; his heads are two, his hands are seven in number. Bound with a triple bond the bull roars loudly; the mighty god hath entered into mortals.”
According to Sayanacharya (a Vedic and Sanskrit scholar who lived during the reign of the Vijayanagara Kings), the four horns of Agni are the four Vedas. The three feet are the three daily sacrifices (morning, noon and evening). Others say they refer to the three fields of time (past, present and future). The two heads are the Brahmaudana and the Pravargya ceremonies (others say day and night). The seven hands are the seven metres of the Vedas (others say the seven rays of light). The three bonds are the three lokas, or planes of existence; bhuh (earth), bhuvah (atmosphere) and svah (heaven).


Some scholars interpret the 4 horns, 3 feet, 2 heads, and 7 hands as the period of 4,320,000,000 solar years, the duration of a single day in the life of Brahma.
Whatever the interpretation (and I am sure there are countless others), this is a remarkable image. Encountering something like this in such a remote location, almost hidden away from the outside world, only adds to the whole experience. This should be world famous in my opinion, and yet, thus far, it is not.
Just behind the Agnivrish are a further set of two carvings of Brahmini, Vaishnavi, and Maheshwari on the floor of the temple.
I confess I was a little spell-bound by the Agnivrush/Agnivrish Nandi carving, and it’s frustrating that I’m not in a position to add any more information about it. I spent a good amount of time trying to adequately photograph it, but with poor light and lack of tripod (which I just don’t bother with at ASI managed or in-use temples), it was an almost impossible task.
The cave temples behind are well worth exploring for the volume and variety of both Shiva pinds and other sculptures. The fact that these are partially cave temples with a stone built frontage may lead to speculation that the origins of Pateshwar stretch much further back in time. In these caves you will find sculptures of Navagraha (the nine planets; Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu),
Sursundari, and avatars of Vishnu (Narasimha, Waman, Sriraam, Parashuraam, Balaraam, and Rushabh)
Cave 1



Cave 2
Cave 3


Continuing on the path you will encounter a couple of smaller temples; a Chamunda temple and another Shiva temple. Note the detail on the Chamunda deities, with a scorpion on the belly, and a demon under her feet (click image below to view in larger format).


A short distance further on takes you to the last major set of structures, the Varhadghar Temple, with a single Dwipstambha (lamp post) outside the entrance.
Varhadghar Temple


The temple has been augmented from a natural crevice in the bedrock, so the front is constructed from basalt rock bricks, but the back is essentially a small rock cave. The temple has three chambers, with a Nandi mandap at the entrance and a central courtyard space that is open to the sky.

The central courtyard space has a number of sculptures, including a wonderful Chaturmukhi pind that very much reminded me of the four-faced Shiva lingam at the Brahma Temple in Khajuraho.
Right next to this is another interesting pindi with twin pots, quite unlike anything I have seen before, known as Kumbeshwar.

The entrance to the main chamber has a couple of carvings on either side of the door, with male figures holding tridents and the females (Ganga and Yamuna) holding water pots.

The main chamber itself is simply staggering, and I don’t think my images nor the description are going to do it any justice whatsoever. Measuring approximately 5m square and 2m high, the chamber is supported by four pillars, two of which are heavily carved.

If you thought you had seen a lot of pindi in the other temple spaces at Pateshwar, then brace yourself. In this central chamber alone there must be thousands, ranging in size from the tiny thumb-nail sized representations, through to the almost monolithic. The main central Sahasra Shiva pind is itself so impressive at nearly 2m long and 1m high.


Equally impressive are the carved serpents on the pillars, each one with separately carved pindis; over 200 on one column, over 300 on the other.


But it doesn’t stop there, this chamber alone houses an additional 11 shiva pindi in the central chamber, almost all of them are unique in design.

Adorning the walls, the flourish of Pindi continues in the form of three Sahasra Pindi panels. Each one has a deity carved at the uppermost center of the panel, the one of the left in the chamber is believed to be the deity Ganga with a crocodile at her feet. Each of these panels is said to have around 1,000 pindis, but I wasn’t going to start any attempt to count them !



The common thread of Shiva Pinds littering this complex continues in the two remaining spaces I explored, the chambers to the left and right of the main chamber of the Varhadghar Temple.
Left Chamber

Right Chamber
The Pateshwar Shiva Temple Complex is completely off the tourist map as far as I can see. Although I did know of it’s existence prior to my last trip to Pune, I owe a lot of gratitude to Shantanu Paranjape and Anurag Vaidya who by chance had just started running heritage trips at the weekend from Pune, and this was only their second or third outing. I’m not sure I would have made it to Pateshwar had it not been for their timely organisation.
They were also extremely kind in helping me get to the pick-up point for the transport, and essentially providing a hassle free day exploring this site and two other nearby locations. We also enjoyed breakfast, lunch and numerous chai stops – what better way to spend a day !! :-).
If you are planning on visiting the Pateshwar Shiva Temple Complex, here are two other nearby sites that are could be combined to offer a great day out of exploring :
- Sangam Mahuli
- Bhairavnath Temple and Hero Stones near Kikali
You’re welcome to ‘Like’ or add a comment if you enjoyed this blog post. If you’d like to be notified of any new content, why not sign up by clicking the ‘Follow’ button.
If you’re interested in using any of my photography or articles please get in touch. I’m also available for any freelance work worldwide, my duffel bag is always packed ready to go…
KevinStandage1@gmail.com
Categories: India, Maharashtra, Pateshwar Shiva Temple Complex
WOW!
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vvery nice and informative
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Thankyou !
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Thanks again Kevin. Superb photos of a site unknown to me. The naga thread is fascinating.
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Awesome
Mindblowing
Thanks for a very unknown info
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Hi Kevin, Beautiful rendition of another gem of a heritage. Thanks for threading these widely scattered gems into your blogs. Enriching all of us ..
Warm regards,
Rajib
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What a great adventure! And no tourists!
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Just how I like it 🙂 In contrast to that I did also revisit the Taj Mahal on this last trip, I’m somewhat regretting that whole experience…
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Hi
Likes the article and photos very much
Also read the other links you had inserted about hero stones, bhairavnath, sangam mahuli.
One small correction, it is DeepaStambh and not dwipstambh.
Thanks
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Makes me wonder if the serpent on the pillars is a representation of Kundalini energy flowing up the spine. Great photographs. Enjoyed the exquisite carvings and the unique sculpture of the deities.
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Wow! Very beautiful photographs and also the detailed interesting description. Thanks for introducing us new place near Pune, so far unknown to me.
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Thanks for stopping by !
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This looks like an amazing temple complex. Thanks for sharing, we will add this to our next India trip. With the country being so large, it seems impossible to visit everywhere.
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this is such a wonderful blog! i doubt even local people know about these treasures!
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You are most welcome, and thank you for your kind words. India has many many special places, I am looking forward to returning in early 2020 to visit and photograph more location !
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Thanks for sharing, such a valuable historical treasure is sure to be visited.
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Thanks for visiting my blog !
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Nice pics. Humbly want to correct you on one thing:
“I apologise to any of my readers if I have the name incorrect for this Nandi variant, information on this wonderful carving is almost non-existent !”
It is an idol of Lord Agni actually.
Rig Veda 4.58.3 describes Agni as follows:
chatvAri shringA trayo asya pAdA dve shIrShe sapta hastAso asya |
tridhA baddho vrishabho roravIti maho devo martyAn A vivesha ||
“Four are his horns, three are the feet that bear him; his heads are two, his hands are seven in number. Bound with a triple bond the bull roars loudly; the mighty God hath entered into mortals.”
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Namaste Shivram. Thank you so much for the correction and additional info, which hopefully my readers will find both interesting and useful. At some point I will revise this post as I gather (and learn) more about the site. I’ve just returned from 7 weeks back in India and have taken over 11,000 photographs, so in the immediate future I will be sorting through those and posting new content on Pune, Varanasi and Bubaneswar :-). Thanks for stopping by my blog !
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Very informative. But sad to see these temples in such a bad state. The government should do something to preserve them.
Wish if I could visit some day
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They are not in a too bad state, I have witnessed a lot worse ! It’s well worth a visit. Thanks for commenting and for stopping by my blog Jayant.
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Very informative! This temple has entered into my bucket list. Thanks
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Thank you for providing with such minute details.
God Bless You and all the very best for your future endeavors.
||| Aum Namah Shivaaya |||
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Thank you – hope to return just as soon as covid will permit me to
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Very informative article sir! Thanks for sharing
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Thanks for stopping by my blog Vinod.
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Mind blowing and so informative.
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Thanks Nadar !
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Thanks for sharing
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Thanks for stopping by !
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Excellent detail write up. Your photos are so good that you take us there to your experience. Thank you for sharing.
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Amazing! Not just our heritage but your zeal for it. Will visit Pateshwar temple complex soon, armed with all the insight provided by you.
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Thanks Alok !
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Great article ! Stunning Photos ! Loved the blog. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
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Thank you !
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Awesome step wise collection with Important info
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Thanks Amol, both for your comment and for stopping by my blog !
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Very nice article.
Though I am from nearby place I was not
Knowing this.
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Excellent photographs and invaluable information. very impressed.
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Thanks John !
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Kevin this is most beautiful narration I have ever seen. This is the first time I got to know about Agnivrish. Sculpture has been carved out so well that all the features which you described are seen so clearly. Please continue posting your discoveries, we will some time plan to visit this state. Some time back I had visited Pataleshwar temple in Pune and thought you mis spelled it to Pateshwar. After going through your details realised this is a different one :-).
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Thanks Jagadeesh for your kind words and for stopping by my blog. I am constantly troubled by places of similar name, or variations in spelling that sometimes make planning my trips quite interesting 🙂
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Kevin, Thank you very much for such a nice photographs with good information. Hope all is well there in this covid situation.
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Thanks for your comment and for stopping by my blog. The covid situation is improving here in the UK, although my hopes of visiting India in early 2022 are looking increasingly unlikely 😦
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Is it four faced Brahma or sadashiva/maheswara?
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There are various thoughts on this one, and I am certainly no expert.
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Great post
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Thanks Asha !
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Nice Blog, Photographs are Amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this blog, Kepp it up.
Ashtavinayak Darshan
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Hey Kevin ..!! what a treat ! your blogs are very informative . How do I connect with you on the phone. Regards, Sushama
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Just connect via email !
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