Takli Dhokeshwar – Cave Temple of Shiva

Much has been written about the famous cave temples of India, I have covered quite a few myself over the past few years. But there many lesser-known cave temples scattered throughout the country that receive almost no attention at all – Takli Dhokeshwar Cave, dating to the mid 7th century CE, being a very good example.

Located 5km north-east of Takli village and 100km north-east of Pune in Maharashtra, this cave has been cut into the eastern face of a conical hill overlooking the Kalu Nadi stream in the valley below. The cave is quite high up the hill face, possibly due to the better quality rock deposits dictating where the excavations occurred.

A long flight of steps leads up to the main cave, the facade of which has been created by pushing back the slope of the near vertical rock-face. This enabled the architects to create two free-standing central facade pillars, which are very wide apart compared to the pilasters at either side.

The plan of the cave temple below will hopefully help navigate your way around the excavation. There is quite a lot to see inside the cave, some of it quite difficult to make out due to low light levels. This plan should at least ensure nothing of any significance is missed. The numbers (in red) I have also included in the main text of this blog post when describing features.

Key :

Flanking the east-facing cave entrance to the sides are a pair of carvings, representations of Yamuna to the south (1) with Kurma shown below her feet, and Ganga (2) to the north. A part of the hillock has been left unexcavated in front of Ganga and a small shrine cell has been created.

Stepping into the cave interior the first thing that strikes you is how spacious it is, and perhaps unexpectedly, the large number of carvings that adorn the cave walls. Immediately beyond the entrance is a seated Nandi facing the sanctum (2). The mandapa area in front of the sanctum has two free-standing pillars, positioned in parallel to the free-standing facade pillars. There is a recesses to the left (south) and a side chamber to the right (north) with carvings I shall describe shortly. Beyond this a circumambulatory passage what wraps around the sanctum.

In a shallow recess to the left (south wall) is a carving of the Saptamatruka (4), the seven mother goddesses, flanked by Shiva-Virabhadra and Ganesha. They are all seated on their own individual pedestal, below which are their signature animal vehicles (except Ganesha).

Viewing these from left to right we have :

• Virabhadra, with a bull
• Brahmi, with a female possibly holding a flywhisk
• Maheśvari, with another bull
• Kaumari, with a peacock
• Vaishnavi, with a wonderfully carved Garuda
• Varahi, with a boar
• Indrani, with an elephant
• Chamundi, with a jackal
• Ganesha, with a plateful of modaks (sweet dumplings)

Lush foliage and fruiting mango trees carved in the upper regions of the panel and children in the arms of the goddesses convey clearly their associations with fertility and prosperity.

The carvings appears to be quite shallow and have been subjected to quite a lot of wear, although I suspect they have always been quite poorly rendered. Stylistically they are very similar to slightly older counterparts that can be seen at Ellora, so perhaps these were carved at a time when ritual importance had gained precedence over aesthetic perfection. On the east-facing wall just the right of the Saptamatruka is a skeletal figure, now badly worn, but is perhaps Bhringiriti (5).

To the right (north wall) is a rectangular side chamber, with two free-standing pillars. Beyond this on the back wall is a carving of Tandava Shiva (6). The eight-armed Shiva is flanked below by Ganesha and Kartikeya, with a seated Parvati and two attendants (7) a little further east set within a shallow niche.

The depth of the central carving of Shiva is far more pronounced than the peripheral carvings, but has not been executed against a completed back wall contour. Instead, much of the carving has been achieved by creating a contour of the image, which is particularly noticeable on the upper section of his trident.

This Shiva image is also quite badly damaged, to the extent that it is hard to make out all of the items he his holding in his hands. The only ones I can make out with any certainly are a dsamaru (small drum), a trident, possibly a staff or club, and a hand making the “Abhaya Mudra” gesture.

Either side of the sanctum main doorway are Dvarapalas (8), guarding the entrance, in Abhanga pose.

The left external wall of the sanctum continues with a carving of a seated figure (9), his right hand raised in what could have been a gesture of teaching.

The presence of the four smaller figures below, their smaller stature and subordinate position suggests devotees or attendants, but their active postures and appearing to be carrying objects do not appear meditative or devotional. This figure may be Nidhi, a figural embodiment of prosperity, richness. Kubera is another contender, although the coin-purse and other defining attributes of this deity are missing.

Hovering above Nidhi are two ganas carrying a drum (damaru) and flywhish (chamara). Ganas are imagery representations of air, which is one of the five essential elements that make a human body (known as the panchamahabhutas- air, water, earth, fire, and ether).

There is a further panel depicting a seated Shiva and Parvati, flanked by two attendants. Between the Dvarapala and Nidhi is a figure folding his arms across the chest and with the prongs of a trident over his head (10). This has been coloured black, so it could be an image of Kaal Bhair that has been modified by locals to being Shani Dev (?)

On the other corresponding side of the sanctum doorway, beyond the Dvarapala, is a figure of a person carrying what appears to be a heavy bundle taken behind the neck over the right shoulder and supported by the right hand flexed vertically up, the other end taken down between the crude left arm (11).

It is not clear what this figure is likely to be, perhaps it’s Kubera with his money bag ? The carving seems to be of a very degenerate character, compared to the Dvarapala figure which carries great poise, sparse ornamentation and clarity of hand pose. Kubera typically carries a small moneybag in one hand, and the thin body of this figure doesn’t infer wealth and prosperity. Another possibility is that this is a representation of a Bhisti, a professional water carrier, who traditionally transported water in large goat-skin bags. Often, two of these bags were strung together and carried over the shoulder in exactly the fashion shown in this sculpture.

The image of this water bearer also aligns visually to the ritual of kavad in which water is carried from sacred rivers, often over long distances, and used to bathe a Shiva Linga. The placement of the water carrier within the iconography of Takli Dhokeshwar cave would be appropriate considering the importance of the site as a major water collection facility, which we will see later.

Taking the circumambulatory passage to the north in an anti-closewise direction past the Tandava Shiva, a small recess contains a couple of hero stones (12). A hero stone is a memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero, usually in battle, you can read much more about these interesting sculptures in my blog here. In all the hero stone examples at this site, our hero actually died defending his cattle from raids.

Immediately after the hero stones, the passageway abruptly opens up to reveal a large monolithic Nandi carved out of the natural rock (13). The Nandi is facing south towards a second doorway to the sanctum, although the alignment is not perfect which is a little perplexing.

It does pose the question whether the original pattern of the temple involved only a north-facing sanctum, a plan which was subsequently abandoned. The smaller Nandi that faces the now main east-facing entrance to the sanctum is not carved from the bedrock, but has instead been carved elsewhere and installed here, so it’s hard to understand why that Nandi is not monolithic in nature. It’s also possible that the circumambulatory passage was a later modification to the cave, and the artisans were keen to express themselves with the addition of this much larger Nandi.

The rear of the circumambulatory passage behind the sanctum has a couple of east-facing small niche shrines housing Shiva Lingas (14).

Continuing anti-clockwise around the circumambulatory passage we come to the southern end of the cave, where there a couple more hero stones (15) can be seen lying on the ground. As with the previous hero stones, our heroes here all died defending their cattle.

We then come to a recess next to the aforementioned Saptamatruka, protected with metal railings and a locked gate, and now home to a number of free-standing carvings that once adorned the entire cave (16). Unfortunately we live in times where such things cannot be left in the open any more, so they are now kept safe here. Most of these image depict Shiva and Parvati, but the available light in this part of the cave was insufficient to allow any meaningful photography.

As already discussed, the sanctum (17) has its main entrance on the eastern side, and a secondary entrance on the northern side, somewhat irregularly placed. Scoop marks and recesses on the internal south and west walls of the sanctum (not photographed) seem to suggest that at some point early attempts were made to allow the sanctum to be accessed from all four cardinal points. Perhaps the northern entrance was the only one completed and thereafter the plan was abandoned. Had this attempt been successful, we would have had a sanctum very reminiscent of the central; Shiva shrine at Elephanta Caves, albeit on a far less grand scale.

In the centre of the sanctum is a square linga pitha carved from the natural bedrock, accompanied by a squattish portable Linga with a flat top.

There are few interesting things to note that reside outside the cave temple itself. Not far from the cave entrance is a medieval Deepastambha (lamp tower), probably a later addition as is the significant “fortification” wall that fronts the cave.

A short distance to the south of the cave, channels have been cut in the rock face to direct water that flows down from the hilltop in the rainy season into vast cisterns where it is collected and stored beneath the excavated site. Clearly water was an important feature of this site, perhaps verifying the presence of a Bhisti (water carrier) carved on the sanctum wall.

A short distance higher up one can see small, simply excavated caves and cells, accessed via footholds carved into the near vertical rock face. These may well be basic residential places, perhaps also connected with the presence of water.

Halfway down the long flight of steps are a couple of Samadhi shrines that are worth exploring, most notable are some of the carvings both on the Samadhi’s themselves, but also just left lying on the ground.

It would seem that there was at one time perhaps even more to see here, as I noticed from of the steps themselves were repurposed carved stone from another structure long gone.

Dating Takli Dhokeshwar has proved slightly problematic. The iconography within the cave closely parallels that of Cave 21 (Rameshwar Lena) and Cave 29 (Dhumar Lena) at Ellora, and architecturally it would seem there has been some attempt to recreate the Shiva shrine in Cave 1 at Elephanta. However, the craftsmanship here is far less luxuriant, perhaps indicating that the impacts of these centres had not been effectively felt, and Takli Dhokeshwar had been a secondary, more provincial centre.

Some scholars have also noted that the incomplete nature of the circumambulatory passage and abandoned additional sanctum entrances may indicate this cave was constructed during the later Chalukyan times, perhaps during a period of unrest and disturbance with the emergence of the Rashtrakuta dynasty. All things considered, the current date attributed to Takli Dhokeswar Cave is the mid 7th century CE.

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