#3# Temple # Palasnath Temple - The Underwater Heritage

 Palasnath Temple - The Underwater Heritage

 MightyHikers

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj & Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj ki jai.....

Palasnath Temple - The Underwater Heritage

 (Palasdeo):

LOCATION: Palasdeo to Palasnath temple 3 kms, 276 kms from Mumbai, 124 kms from Pune. Best time to visit: March-June (This temple was submerged after the Ujani dam was completed in 1978, and it has only been out of the water a few times since then, in 2001, 2013 and 2016. In rainy seasons mostly due to the heavy floods, the village flows away, but the temple gets sunk in the water.)

This temple is at least 800 to 900 years old and was built by Chalukya Kings (Kalyani Chalukya, whose capital was in today's Basavakalyan during the 10th and 12th centuries AD).

The temple is built in the Hemadpanthi style and the Shikhar is built in the Saptabhumij style, with a space and a small dome in the Shikhar where 6–7 people can sit and perform havan and pooja. This is a rare sort of Shikhar seen in temples in these places.

Raje Nimbalkar of Phaltan restored and extended this temple in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Today, the Shiv linga has been relocated to a new temple and we can see the old temple and several veergals covered in mud and grime from bird’s nests, with the craftsmanship being washed away by water.

Also, there is a Ram temple around 10–15 minutes away in the water, and this temple is also submerged in Ujani’s water. The stone carvings and sculptures of Ram, Sita, Laxman, Ravan and Hanuman are exceedingly magnificent. However, they are deteriorating owing to prolonged exposure to water.