Narration by Mr Ramesh Kabra
Hidden treasures of India as seen through my eyes:
In an obscure Indian village in interior Maharashtra (65 kms from Kolhapur) adjacent to Karnataka border lies an ancient architectural treasure not much known to the world outside and yet to figure on the regular tourist map. Only serious lovers of Indian architecture & archaeology make an attempt to visit it and come back mesmerized with its craftsmanship - the exquisitely carved figures of Indian gods, goddesses, dancers, musicians, elephants etc. all around the temple in several layers leave you wonder struck.
I am talking about the KOPESHWAR Mahadev Temple in the village called Khidrapur on the banks of river Krishna, amidst rich sugarcane plantations.
It is believed that the construction of the temple was started in the 8th century during the Satavahana period but remained incomplete. It was only in the late 11th & early 12th century during the reign of the Shilahara kings of Kolhapur region in particular Raja Bhoj II that the temple could be completed.
The temple’s Shikhar has a distinctive style not seen in other temples.
The temple has a unique feature that is never seen in any other Shiva temple. The sanctum sanctorum has two lingas and the temple does not have a Nandi. The first Linga represents Vishnu as ‘Dhopeshwar’ and the second Linga represents Shiva as ‘Kopeshwar’ !!!
The mythological story associated with it goes as follows: on learning about the death of Sati at her father’s yagna, Shiva became furious & enraged (Kop), the devtas got scared as they feared that Shiva would destroy all the worlds. They requested Vishnu to do something. After much cajoling, Vishnu managed to bring Shiva to Khidrapur and somehow managed to wash (dho) away his anger there. Hence Shiva is depicted as Kopeshwar and Vishnu as Dhopeshwar. Strange isn’t it ??? The reason why no Nandi can be seen is because Sati had gone to her father’s place riding on Nandi. So Nandi was not with Shiva at that time !!!
The highlight of the temple is the Swargmandap that has 48 pillars and not two pillars are alike and the ceiling of the swargmandap is open to the sky. The reason ascribed for it is that the mandap was used for performing yagnas & havans so the smoke of the havan could escape through the open ceiling without discomforting those present inside !!
This temple is an architectural marvel -several layers of exquisite carved sculptures all around the exterior wall of the temple leave the visitor wonderstruck & mesmerized. It seems as if you are reading a poetry in stone and after reading every line you involuntarily say wah !! One can spend an entire day gazing at them !!!
There are friezes of gods & godesses including Shiva, Parvati, Vishnu, Brahma, Durga, Ganesh etc., celestial maidens in different poses, mythological beasts etc. There are elephants all around the temple at the lower level and the gods are seen riding them. It seems as if the weight of the entire temple is being carried by these elephants. Trunks of all the elephants except two or three have been destroyed during attack on the temple.
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