| Temples & Legends Of
Maharastra |
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| Temples & Legends Of
India |
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KHANDOBA - JEJURI |
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| The temple
faces the east. The outermost portion is an arched portico. This is a later addition to
the original structure whichmust have consisted of only two parts, a square mandap and a
garbhagriha. In this portico are hung some bells and along the walls rests a big
‘khanda’ -a sword. with a blade four feet long and f our inches broad. This is
an ayudha or attribute of the god. The mandap is styled after the Yadav order of temple
architecture. In this mandap are seen two horses of stone, one with the image of Khandoba
astride it, the other without.In the garbhagriha there is asquare 'devaghar’, a small
shrine within a shrine, a niche like place. In this niche is a square yoni in which are
two swayambhu lings, one that of Khandoba and the other re- presenting Mhalsa, his
consort. These arc covered with silver masks, This is the chief object of veneration and
worship at the place. In addition to this however, there are a number of pairs of
Khandoba-Mhalsa images in the garbhagriha. Two are in silver and the third one in bras. As
far as their iconographical aspect goes all the three are quite similar. The image of
Khandoba has a sword, trishula, damaru and a bowl. The Mhalsa images hold lotus flower or
lotus buds in their hands. The pair standing in the centre was a gift from the Satara
Chhatrapatis made in 1932. An inscription on the back side of the third pair of statues
states that it was donated by Sharfoji Bhosale of Tanjore around 1725. There were some
other pairs, one in gold and other in silver which were, along with some precious
jewellery looted some twenty years back. In the wall behind these images is a seated image
of Khandoba in stone. This also holds a sword, trishula, damaru and bowl in its hands. On
either side are carved figures of female attendants known as Jogeshvaris. On the pedestal
of this image the figure of a horse is carved, that being the vahan of the deity. |
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