In Parbhani district of Marathwada, in Gangakhed taluka, 1 km ahead of Daithan, there is a fork on the right hand side and 7 km ahead of it is the historical village of Dharasur. The village has people of Kadam and Jadhav surnames and the village has magnificent mansions (wada) from the Maratha period. The village Dharasur is located on the bank of river Godavari and according to the locals, the name of this village is Dhareshwar and it has broken down to Dharasur because of the idol of Lord Mahadev and Nandi in the middle of the river. In the village there is Gupteshwar Shiv temple decorated with ancient and beautiful sculptures of Chalukya period and Keshavraj temple of Peshwa period. The Gupteshwar temple belongs to the Chalukya period and a brick culmination has been built on the stone structure of the original temple in the later period. ... The Gupteshwar temple faces east and the Godavari River flows from the west side of the temple. On the north and south side of the temple there are Ardhamandap and Kaksha (room), while the north side pavilion is completely collapsed and its carved stones are scattered all over. The floor of the temple is about 10 feet high and has a gajthar on it. The hall has a rangashila and at the beginning of the space there is a door with a lattice work and a doorway with stone carvings. Ganesha is on the front side and upon entering the space, five branches such as Patra, Gandharva, Stambha, Vyal and Swalp are visible on the door branch of the main sanctum sanctorum. The porter on the door is a Vaishnava i.e. Jayavijaya and is carved with Chamardharini along with Ganga Yamuna. There is a small Shivlinga installed recently in the core and the brass Nandi in the space is of modern age. Looking at the sanctum sanctorum and the overall design of the temple, it seems that the earlier Vishnu temple may have been transformed into a Shiva temple in later times. There are 2 shrines in the hall but the idols are not in place. The Jangha area of the temple has exquisitely carved idols of Apsara, Ganesha, and Sursundari. Outside the temple, there are Vishnu idols in the form of Sridhara, Rishikesh, Padmanabha in the Devakoshta on the north, south and west walls. The sculptor has put his full skill in the hairstyle, physique, ornamentation, expression and rhythm of the idols. On the south wall outside the temple there is a sculpture of lover writing a letter and this is a proof of the education of women in the society existing even at that time. On the exterior of the temple is a sculpture of Sursundari dressed in exotic robes like a gown. One of the sculptures depicts a woman giving birth. Apart from this, many beauties like Vishkanya, Amrapali, Putravallabha, and Darpana are carved on the exterior of the temple. The temple is under the custody of the Department of Archeology and the Department of Archeology and the Central Government have declared this temple as a National Monument. In the recent part of the Gupteshwar Temple is the Keshavraj Temple of the Peshwa period, which has a very beautiful Vishnu idol carved in black stone. This idol may be the original idol of Gupteshwar temple. It may have been removed from the temple and hidden elsewhere during the time of the destructive invaders but later installed here as it could not be moved to its original place. Those who are interested in temples and idols must visit this place. (Note- The information about the said temple and sculptures has been given by Mr. Sagar Patil, a scholar of temple and sculpture and the blog has been written by Mr. Suresh Nimbalkar.)
© Suresh Nimbalkar