Pateshwar – Ramanisblog

One is used to seeing Lord Shiva with Three faces, or Linga Swarupa.

We are aware of the five heads of Shiva,

Sathyajaatham,

Vamadevam,

Agora,

Thatpurusha and

Esana.

Surprising to know that there is a Temple near Satara,Maharashtra, where the sculpture of Shiva is found with Four heads.

Shiva with Four Heads — Four headed Shiva

Pateshwar is a village in Satara district of Maharashtra, known for rock-cut caves with shrines of Shiva.

Pateshwar is located about 11.26 km South East of Satara on the Satara-Kolhapur state highway in Maharashtra. While there are two ways of approaching Pateshwar, the most popular route is through Degaon village by State Transport buses, uutorickshaws apart from private cars. The other route is from the South through a village called Borgaon. This road is preferred by the locals, however tourists prefer the Degaon route.

Pateshwar has 8 ancient caves and many ancient stone carved deities of Lord Shiva and other deities. The place is known for having more than 1000 Shiva-lings (Also known as Pinds). Most important amongst these is the Maha Shiva Lingam which has intricate carvings. Many of the deities find references in the ancient Hindu Vedas and Puranas. Some of the identified deities are as below.

Shiva Lingas.

Ekmukhdhari Pind
Chaturmukhdhari Pind
Ashtadikpal Pind
Harihar Pind
Margalmhaisa Pind
Yantra Pind.

Other Deities.

Ekmukhi Bramhadev
Chaturmukh Shiv
Saraswati
Agni
Sheshashayee Vishnu
Vainayaki
Tripura
Ashtadashbhuja Mahishasur Mardini Chamunda
Ashtamatruka
Navgraha
Dvadashavtar
Balibhadra

Many of the deities are very unique and have not been completely identified yet.

There is a mutth called ‘Sadguru Govindanandswami Maharaj Mutt’ which has few Sadhus who are known to take care of the place. However the temples are not in the best of condition and most of them have overgrown vegetation.

The hill has approximately 52 types of plants which have medicinal value and semi-deciduous trees like Teak, Banyan, Jamun, Karvee. Flowers like the Malabar Delphinium and Sonki which are found on the Kaas plateau in abundance are also found on this hill. The animals mostly found are monkeys, rat snakes, wild pigs and one can also sight Peacocks in the valley down below.

There is a book written and published locally in Satara on Pateshwar which is titled ‘Shree Kshetra Pateshwar Darshan’”

Some Images from the temple.