Indian Antiquary Vol 05

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 18

12
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
temple; and within these again is the shrine, hollowed out of a great rectangular block left standing from floor to roof of the cave. Behind this again is a dark passage or pradakshina. The chief object of worship is a mean little linga in the central shrine, but there is another to the right of it (as you enter) faced by a large Nandi, or bull, carved in sitú. On the same side, but nearer the entrance, in a sort of chapel or niche, is a four-armed figure grasping several weapons; one a live cobra; another, looking like the head of a mallet, perhaps represents the damru or drum; the others are indistinguishable by reason of age, oil, and red lead plentifully bestowed by the worshippers, who honour this gentleman under the name of K âl Bhai rava, though I fancy he started in life under another title. Of several cobras about him, some seem to have been cut at a comparatively recent period. Opposite him are a row of eight ladies called the Ashta Mâtra,-Yoginis I suppose; one has the head of a pig or horse-probably a kinnara. Besides these there are giant dwarpáls, animals of all sorts on a smaller scale, and a multitude of other figures, some cut in sitú, others on detached or even imported stones,-in fact the cave is a regular gallery of Hindu sculpture" from the earliest times to the present day," and the collection is still increasing. The other cave is a triple cell a little higher up the rock, the inner division separated from the outer by a low partition wall without a doorway, so that one must stride or scramble over this to get in. It is approached by a risky stair in the rock, south of the big cave. There is no inscription except a modern Marathi one on a small thaḍks outside the chief cave. I heard of a cave at Virole, seven miles from Pârner, and the identity of the name with that by which the Marâthâs know Elura tempted me to hope great things; but it is a mere hole in a rock by a modern though very sacred Hindu temple.. There are, however, real caves at Waḍgâmdary â, four miles from the large village of Kân hûr and twelve from Pârner, but I had not time to examine them.
Most of the places referred to in the foregoing notes are in the Kopargâm, Sangamner, and Ankolê tâlukâs, drained by affluents of the Godavari. The caves of Dhoke svara and
On a subsequent visit I found them to be natural caves, rather spoiled by bad modern masonry, and of no archi
[JANUARY, 1876. Wadgam only are in the Pârner tâlukâ, which lies partly in the wide open valley of the Ghor river, and partly in the hills which form its northern boundary, and belong to the great dividing ridge of the Dekhan. The talukâ is tolerably rich in remains, but none are of the ornate character of those already noticed.
At the junction of two small streams near the town of Pârner itself is a temple of Mahâdeva Tryambakesvara (called also, from the site, Sangamesvara), of considerable age and interest. The ground-plan is the normal double broken diamond or square, but not quite so elaborate as at Ambarnath; for while there we have four superior re-entering angles between porch and porch on each side, and the salient angles also have each a double notch, here there are only three superior re-entering angles, and one small one next the porch. The roof is supported by four pillars standing in the centre of the floor, supporting, with the help of the walls and surviving pilasters, nine small rough domes. As far as can be made out, this was the original arrangement, but the whole building has been destroyed (tradition says by the first Muhammadan invaders), and rebuilt from a height of about nine feet from the ground, as can be seen by the use of mortar in the upper part (the lower being of dry stone-work remarkable for the size of the blocks), and by the inverted position of the decorations. The three porches are all in ruins,--the front one least so. Its door strongly resembles the inner door of temple No. II. Belgaum (figu.ed in plate V. of the Archaeological Report of Western India for 1874), but has not the pierced panels at the sides. The pillars, however, rather resemble those of temple No. I. Belgaum (ibid. plate II.). Perhaps the most curious feature of the temple is a decoration repeated on almost every stone of the exterior, with slight variations, that, namely, which I have alluded to above (p. 7) as suggesting a derivation from Buddhist forms. The face of each of the large stones forming the walls is chiselled out to a depth of about one-fourth of an inch, a band one inch wide being left at its original place to serve as a border or frame. Within this is left in the same manner the figure in question. In some instances only the surface between it and
tectural interest, though the natural beauty of the little glen in which they are makes it well worth going to see.