Pateshwar Home > Maharashtra > Cities And Destinations In Maharashtra > Pateshwar

Pateshwar

Located at Satara district of Maharashtra, Pateshwar is a popular village and is widely known for its Shiva shrines and marvelous rock-cut caves. It is located at Satara-Solapur state highway at about 11 km to the south east of Satara.

There are two ways to reach Pateshwar. One is through Degaon village and can be taken via state transport buses. This route is popular is among tourists. The other route, which is popular among the locals, is from Borgaon village.

There are 8 huge ancient caves in Pateshwar and many stunning deities of Lord Shiva and many other lords are also put on display. It is said that it has over a 1000 Shiva-lings, including the popular Maha Shiva Lingam which has many delicate and beautiful carvings.

There is a famous mutth here which is known as the ‘Sadguru Govindanandswami Maharaj Mutth’. This mutth is maintained by a few Sadhus who have been living here for so many years. Sadly, most of the temples have grown vegetation and are in poor condition due to lack of maintenance. Still, the place has an air of spirituality which attracts many tourists from all over India.

Pateshwar is basically located on a hill and this hill has over 52 different kinds of plants and herbs which have high medical value. The variety of trees it has includes Karvee, Jamun, Banyan and Teak. Flowers of all sorts including Sonki, and Malabar Delphinium can also be found here.

The Shiva Temple

The Shiva temple is one of the major attractions of Pateshwar. The inside of the temple has a very tranquilizing ambience and is embellished with many shrines and deities. You will find a beautifully carved deity of Nandi inside it and the forests surrounding the temple make the atmosphere all the more secluded and peaceful. Built in sometime around 16th century AD, this temple has now in slightly depleted condition but the statues and the carvings are still intact.

The inner walls of the temple are all decorated with stone carved statues. There are also two small temples in the court yard which are also quite beautiful. The statues inside the temple include that of Sheshashayee (Vishnu) in the inner wall of the temple, Mahishasur Mardini in a small temple in the court yard and the rare four headed Shiva statue in the court yard.

In this temple, the priest performs aarti and Abhisheks upon the Shiv Linga in the temple every day.

Cave Temples

About 200 m away on the eastern side of the temple are many small temples which are built like caves. These temples are said to contain over a million Shiv Lings of all sizes. About 100 km ahead is a relatively larger temple which is mostly underground. Inside this temple are also thousands of Shiv Lings of size ranging from a few cms to few feet. One of the pillars in the cave temple is decorated with stone carved serpent and small shivlings. Outside the temple is a Shiv Ling with Trimurti which is made from black stone.

Things to Take Care of

Since most of the Pateshwar village and its temples are surrounded with thick vegetation and forests one should be careful of reptiles and snakes. However, no kinds of deadly animals are ever found here so you don’t have to worry about that.
It is better to avoid visiting the village during monsoon time. It is because during this time not only trekking and travelling is difficult but the reptiles and snakes are also stirred up during it.
Prefer not to visit the temples after dark. Morning time is the best.
Photography is not strictly prohibited but is strongly discouraged. The place is isolated from the main town and is mainly governed and maintained by the Sadhus living here. And they don’t like people taking photographs of their place.

Other Places to Visit near Pateshwar

If you get some time then you can also visit some other interesting places near Pateshwar. These include- Kolhapur (133 km), Chiplun (123 km ), Pune(110 km), Tapola(79 km ), Mahabaleshwar(53 km), Panchgani(51 km), and Khandala(50 km).