There is a small village named Ibrahimpur in Chandgad taluka of Kolhapur district. Although the name of the village is of Muslim origin, the village has ancient Chalukya temples. Although all these temples are near each other, one of these temples is a Shiva temple and the remaining two are Jain temples. To go to Ibrahimpur we first have to reach Gadhinglaj. Gadhinglaj-Adkur-Ibrahimpur railway line is about 19 km from Gadhinglaj. This group of ancient temples is outside the village and when approaching the temple, the first thing that comes into view is the temple of village deity Pavnaidevi. Although this temple with tiled roof construction is of recent times, there are some virgal (hero stone) kept in this temple. Behind this temple there is a Shiva temple at some distance in the dense forest. Built in the Bhumij style, this temple has three parts namely assembly hall, antaral and sanctum sanctorum. ... The temple hall is supported on stone pillars and no carvings are visible on the exterior. A large number of old sculptures can be seen in the premises of the temple. There are worn sculptures of Kartikeya and Seshashayi Vishnu and some other idols are kept in the hall of the temple. It includes some satishila and snake sculptures. At the bottom of the door frame of the sanctum sanctorum there are two carvings of elephant instead of Kirtimukh and two sharabh are carved above Ganesha. Outside the sanctum sanctorum, a Chandrashila is carved in the temple space and a Shivlinga is installed in the sanctum sanctorum. There are two Jain temples next to each other at some distance from this temple and no carvings are visible on these two temples except the idols in the temple. Both these temples are built on a stone porch and there are two parts of the temple namely assembly hall and sanctum sanctorum. The assembly hall of both these temples is supported on pillars. One hour is enough to see the whole area of the temple. A great battle may have been fought at this place, which is we find so many sculptures in the vicinity of the Shiva temple, but history is unclear.
© Suresh Nimbalkar