Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c10.s1.1

c10.s1.1

THE village of Kokamthān, about fifty-six miles north of Ahmadnagar, is situated upon the right bank of the Godāverī, some three miles to the south-east of Kopargāon, a station on the railway. Built upon what appears to be an artificial embankment, projecting into the stream bed upon the north-east outskirts of the village, is a very interesting old temple. It consists of the usual shrine and *maṇḍapa* with two porches, one on the west side of the hall and one on the north, directly opposite the shrine. A small additional shrine takes the place of a porch upon the east side of the *maṇḍapa*. The building has been designed upon a star-shaped plan, which, however, is rather obscured by the three heavy square buttresses around the shrine, and by the porches and the square side shrine of the hall which break the star-planned corners. It is possible that the side shrine of the hall is a later addition, the outer walls, in their treatment, being so very unlike the rest. Had this been part of the original plan, it would, like temple No. 1 at Balsāne, have been carried out in precisely the same style, the same mouldings and panelling being carried around its walls. Like the temples at Jodghā and Devalānā, this shrine has taken the place of a porch which stood opposite the one on the west of the hall. Above the doorways of the two porches, as well as above that of the main shrine, is Garuḍa: which, coupled with the fact that the temple faces the north, shows clearly that it was originally a Vaishṇava temple. But above the doorway of this small shrine is Gaṇapati, which is in favour of it being built as a Śaiva shrine, probably when the temple fell into the hands of that sect. (Plates LXVII—LXIX.)