Pateshwar - as the name suggests - the abode of Lord Shiva - is a small hamlet nestled among the hills of Satara. 

View from the top

The first flight of steps with the Ganapati idol on the right

Ganapati idol with Riddhi and Siddhi on either sides

Location : Off the NH4 highway as we go from Satara to Kolhapur, there is a small left with a sign board “Rehmatnagar”. This left takes us to MIDC.  There is active road work going on and hence it is easy to miss the turn. Remember to keep left after Mahendra Executive Hotel which is easily visible on the left side. The next left is at Rehmatnagar. About 100 meters down, there is a right turn which will take you to Pateshwar. The road is broad as it goes through the MIDC complex and suddenly it narrows down and Ghat road begins. This road is good but too narrow – just enough to allow one car in one direction. The road ends in a small clearing at the foot of stone steps which has a Ganesh idol with Riddhi Siddhi on either side.

Just follow the steps and the path thereafter. 

Calotes versicolor - Garden lizard

The entrance to the main Shiva Temple

The narrow path leads to the Mutt at about 1.5 – 2.0 kms. The Mutt has a Samadhi and is known as the 'Sadguru Govindanandswami Maharaj Mutt'.

From the mutt, on the right of the water tank, there is a narrow walkway and a small flight of steps leads to the entrance of an old Shiva Temple. The temple is very old and houses a Swayambhu Shivling at the center. Puja is performed by the priest daily.

Ganapati idol

Sheshashayee Vishnu on the outer wall of the temple

Nandi in front of the main temple

Nandi

Chaturmukh Shiva

 

Garuda

The Shiva Temple

 

Swayambhu Shivlinga

Here you can see a few old stone idols of Shiva. Most interesting is the 4 headed idol which is definitely a rare one. A massive stone Nandi is seen in front of the temple entrance and two deep sthambas on either side in the temple courtyard.

The next step was to look for other temples in the complex. 

 

 

As we came down from the main temple towards the mutt, we asked a lady who was washing some utensils. She gestured by hand to go to the right side of the mutt wall. There was a narrow path and we proceeded about for 10 mins. We saw a few small cube shaped stone structures which housed some old lingas. The path went ahead and then we came across a large stone structure with lots of overgrown weeds and bushes. On close inspection it looked like some sort of a building and a terrace. We circumvented this structure and there it was – a few smaller cubical structures with low entrances. 

Shivalinga with many smaller shivalingas embedded into it

 

Stone tablet with numerous shivlingas embedded into it

These structures housed some large Shiv lingas which were embedded with small lingas on them. Some stone tablets were also embedded with the smaller lingas. This temple is better known as the “temple with one crore lingas”. Yes though we couldn’t count the numbers, there were plenty of them and wherever we saw, we noticed that even the small Shivlingas were lined by smaller lingas on them. 

 

 

 

We do not know the reason for such a construction as there is none to explain why there are so many lingas inside a small temple and who constructed it or when was it constructed. The site remains a mystery.

Pateshwar - indeed, a holy place that time forgot ......

Pateshwar - a holy place where time stands still .....

Pateshwar Shiva temple is definitely worth a visit. The best days are weekdays apart from Monday and Shivratri which are better to avoid due to rush. There is parking for just one vehicle or a few motorcycles.

Lavandula bipinnata

Cyanotis fasciculata

Senna auriculata

Cyclosia ginnaga

Scopula sp..

Blue Tiger

Lace Border Moth

Common Cerulean

Alysicarpus tetragonolobus

Hibiscus lobatus

Asteraceae species

Common Nawab

The entire path from the base to the top is lined by thick bushes and just after the rains it is green all around with lots of flowers and insects. Pateshwar is truly a photographer’s paradise.

Bee-eater

Drongo