The Gondeshwar Temple (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Gondeśvara) is an 11th-12th century

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

located in Sinnar, a town in the

Nashik district Nashik district,(Marathi: Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪ɑɕɪk formerly known as Nasik district, is a district in Maharashtra, India. The city of Nashik is the administrative headquarters of the district. Nashik is well known for the production of win ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India. It features a panchayatana plan; with a main shrine dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

; and four subsidiary shrines dedicated to

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

Parvati Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

, and

Ganesha Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

History

The Gondeshwar temple was built during the rule of the

Seuna (Yadava) dynasty The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadava, Yadavas of Devagiri (IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a realm stretching from the Narmada River, Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in th ...

, and is variously dated to either the 11th or the 12th century. Sinnar was a stronghold of the dynasty during their pre-imperial period, and modern historians identify it with Seunapura, a town established by the Yadava king Seuanchandra. According to local tradition, the town of Sinnar was established by the Gavali (that is, Yadava) chief Rav Singhuni, and the Gondeshvara temple was commissioned by his son Rav Govinda, at a cost of 200,000 rupees. According to another suggestion, the temple - also known as Govindeshvara (

: Govindeśvara) - was built by the Yadava feudatory Govinda-raja, but no historical evidence supports this suggestion.

Architecture

The Gondeshwar temple is built in the

Bhumija Bhumija is a variety of north Indian temple architecture marked by how the rotating square-circle principle is applied to construct the ''shikhara'' (superstructure or spire) on top of the sanctum. Invented about the 10th-century in the Malwa regi ...

style, in form of a panchayatana complex, which features a main shrine surrounded by four subsidiary shrines. The temple is situated on a rectangular platform that measures 125 x 95 feet. The plan of the temple is very similar to that of the Ambarnath Shiva temple, but the sculptures on its exterior walls are of inferior quality than those of the Ambarnath temple. The temple complex was originally surrounded by a wall, which is now mostly destroyed. Udayesvara Temple also known as Neelkantheshwara temple in Udaipur, Madhya Pradesh also shares a similar design. The main shrine is dedicated to

, and contains a large

linga A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

. The shrine and the Nandi pavilion facing it are located on an elevated plinth. The

mandapa A ''mandapa'' or ''mantapa'' () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture and Jain temple architecture. ''Mandapas'' are described as "open" or "closed" dependin ...

(pavilion), which has porches on three sides, acts as the entrance to the temple. The shrine has a Nagara-style

shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

(tower), whose

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

is no longer preserved. The walls of the temple depict scenes from the ancient epic ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

''. The subsidiary shrines are dedicated to

, and

: all of them have a porch. They are rectangular in plan, and include a mandapa, an

antarala ''Antarala'' (Sanskrit: अन्तराल; ) is a small antechamber or foyer between the ''garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum ...

(vestibule), and the

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum". The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...

(sanctum). KITLV 88234 - Unknown - Gondeshvara temple at Sinnar in British India - 1897.tif , The temple in 1897 Gondeshwar Temple - Sinnar, Maharashtra, India.jpg , In 2017, with the finial lost Gondeshwar temple Sinnar, Nashik temple cross section and plan.jpg , Cross section and plan

References

Bibliography

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