Bhimashankar Temple
— — the hill the river starts inside.
Not only on a wall.
“A black-stone Shiva temple in the Sahyadri hills of western Maharashtra, about 110 kilometres northwest of Pune. The shrine is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of the subcontinent and marks the source of the Bhima river, which rises from a spring inside the sanctum. The building dates in its current form to the 18th century, in the local Hemadpanthi style, and sits inside a wildlife sanctuary known for the Indian giant squirrel. — from the studio
Bhimashankar Temple, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Bhimashankar Temple sits at about 1,000 metres in the Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra, 110 kilometres northwest of Pune and 200 kilometres east of Mumbai. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva, the most significant tier of Shaiva pilgrimage on the subcontinent. The Bhima river, a major tributary of the Krishna, rises from a spring within the temple's sanctum. The surrounding 131-square-kilometre Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary was declared in 1985 and protects one of the last reliable habitats of the Indian giant squirrel.
The current temple is 18th century in its standing form, built largely under the patronage of Nana Phadnavis, the Peshwa-era minister, around 1733. The architecture is Hemadpanthi: black basalt blocks laid without mortar, with a low Nagara-style sikhara above the sanctum. The shikhara is shorter than most northern Shiva temples, in the Maharashtrian regional pattern that favours a compact silhouette in the hill country. The sabha-mandapa and surrounding walls were added in successive Peshwa-era campaigns; the bell over the entry was donated in 1739.
The temple is reached by road from Pune via Manchar and Ghodegaon, a three-hour drive that climbs steeply through the last fifteen kilometres. A flight of about 230 steps descends from the road to the sanctum. Darshan is busiest on Mahashivaratri in February or March and on Mondays of the Shravana month, when pilgrim numbers can exceed 100,000. The wider sanctuary opens to visitors at dawn; the giant squirrels are most active in the first two hours after sunrise.