Kanakeshvara

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Raigad district map

Kanakeshwar (कनकेश्वर) is a place famous for its old temple of Shiva on the Konkan Coast near Alibag, in Raigad District of Maharashtra, India.

Variants

• Kanaka (कनक)
• Kanakeshvar (कनकेश्वर)
• Kanakeshvara (कनकेश्वर)
• Kanakeshwar (कनकेश्वर)

Location

The Kanakeshwar temple is situated on a small hill near the village of Mapgaon and village Zirad which is almost 12 km and 15 km from Alibag respectively. The hill is almost 5000 feet high and one has to climb 650 steps to reach the temple.

Jat clans

• Kang

Kanakeshwar temple

The temple of Kanakeshwar is very beautiful; it is a Hoysala style structure. It has two parts: Sabhamandapa and Gabhara (Sanctum sanctorum). A water tank, called a "Pushkarni", has water almost throughout the year. The daily rituals lord Shiva are performed by Gurav family from Village Zirad. They perform rituals in main temple followed by rituals of surrounding lord Shiva temples.

While climbing from Mapgoan, in the mid of the hill one can see Nagobacha Tappa (a Place of Nagas) and the famous step called "Devachi Payari" named because, it is said, God himself stepped here after the construction of the temple and the steps. One can also see Gaymandi (Sculpture of a Cow).

While climbing hill from Village Zirad, one can see Coastline of Arabian Sea, Khanderi Fort villages nearby and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, Thal Unit. One can also see Temple Patrubai and Sant Manamata Samadhi.

The hill and the surroundings are good to visit. One can see the hilly region and the forest on the hill. The other places to see near Kanakeshwar are the Shriram Siddhivinayak Mandir, Shri Kalbhairav Temple, Vishnu Mandir, Maruti Temple, Bramhakund, Temple of Devi Putrubai, Gaymukh and the plateau of Vyaghreshwar (a small temple of Lord Shiva), etc. One can also see stone inscription of 13th Century near Rameshwar Mandir.

Kanakeshwar is a place to feel the jungle and silence of the jungle and hills. If you want to see the beauty of the Arabian sea and the fort of Khanderi as well as the entire hilly region, then Kanakeshwar is the place to visit and rest for 2–3 days. Kanekeshwar hill supports a variety of flora and fauna. Fauna consists of variety of birds, and reptiles, It has been observed to a good breeding place for raptor birds.

Shri Kanakeshwar (देव श्री कनकेश्वर) is also family god/ Kuladeva (कुलदैव) of Date/ Datye family.

Various definitions

Kanakeśvara (कनकेश्वर).—One of the forms of Brahmā in the Gaya stone.

Kanakeśvara is the name of a Brāhmaṇa residing in Brahmapurī according to the “Prince of wales museum plates of Mummuṇirāja”. Accordingly, “Kanakeśvara, the son of Velāditya Upādhyāya, who is of the Jāmadagnya-gotra and Bahvṛca-śākhā”.

These copper plates (mentioning Kanakeśvara) were handed over to the Curator (Archaeological Section, Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay) by one Hasan Razak. Its object is to record the grant, by Mammuṇirāja, of the village Ki-icchitā (Mandaraja-viṣaya) to twelve Brāhmaṇas residing in the agrahāra of Brahmapurī. The grant was made on the occasion of a lunar eclipse which occurred on the fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Bhādrapada in the Śaka year 971 (=1049 AD), the cyclic year being Virodhin.

Reference - https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kanakeshvara