Pataleshwar Cave temple

It is located at Jangli Maharaj Road where a lot of commercial complexes have now come up. It has been declared as a protected monument by the government. Prajakta Panshikar, a project consultant at the NGO Janwani, observes that this is one of the few heritage monuments that are being maintained properly.u00a0

Pataleshwar Cave at J M Road. Pics/ Krunal Gosaviu00a0

The temple was made from basalt rock and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Located in front of the cave is a circular Nandi mandapa, its umbrella-shaped canopy supported by massive square pillars.

The temple was left incomplete, possibly because of a fault line found at the back of the sanctum sanctorum, which made further sculpting unsafe or political upheaval could have resulted in a loss of patronage. A brass temple bell hangs outside the basalt entryway.

The attached museum is dim, dank and dusty and not worth wasting time over. The only interesting item on display is a grain of rice engraved with 5,000 characters which is mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records.u00a0