Out of 1200 caves found all over India, about 850 caves are in Maharashtra alone. Although this sounds good, the reality is that except for 30-40 of these caves, the rest of the caves remain unknown to most. One of these undiscovered caves is Takli Dhokeshwar. Located in Takli village in Parner taluka of Ahmadnagar district, this cave is 40 km away from town and 21 km from Parner taluka. The distance from Takli village to Dhokeshwar Caves is about 5 km. After passing Takli village on the Kalyn-Nagar highway, a small hill with Dhokeshwar cave is visible on the left side of the highway. In the middle of this hill, the caves of Dhokeshwar is carved. The cave is owned by the Archeology department and they have built stone steps to reach the caves. From the base of the hill, the cave entrance and ramparts in the middle of the hill are prominently visible. ... A stone ridge can be seen on the left side at the beginning of the stairs. After going up about 50-60 steps from here, one Memorial temple and another Memorial porch can be seen on the right before the entrance. The Memorial Temple has some carvings and the door has Ganesh sculpture. A Shiva Lingam is placed on the inner part of the temple. Adjacent to the second outer memorial, one sculpture is kept. This sculpture is probably from the cave walls. On the way up the steps of the caves, carved construction stones are seen at some places used for steps. After entering the cave premises through a door in the ramparts, a stone lamp stand erected on the porch can be seen. The cave of Dhokeshwar is quite large and there are carvings on both sides of the cave. The inner hall of the cave is supported on four pillars and on the left side is carved “Saptamatrikapat”. Ganapati is engraved on one end and Veerbhadra on the other end. On one of the walls of the cave is a defaced sculpture of Gajalakshmi. On either side of the door of the sanctum sanctorum are gatekeepers holding flowers in their hands and behind their heads are carved Prabhamandal and Vidyadhara. A circuit has been carved to go round the sanctum sanctorum and a Shivlinga has been installed in the sanctum sanctorum and Nandi in the hall. A large number of carvings are seen on this circuit. Outside the cave, on the left side, there is a water tank, and a shaft is carved out of stone on the slope of the hill for water to flow into it. The water in this tank is potable. Near this tank is another water tank known as “Sitanhani”. To reach this tank, notches have been cut in the stone. With the help of locals, the archaeological department has kept the cave area neat and clean. A large pilgrimage is held at this place on Mondays in the month of Shravan and on Mahashivratri. This uncrowded beautiful place is a must visit.
© Suresh Nimbalkar