After an interlude of about 500 years, the temple-building activity in Maharashtra began in right earnest from the late 17th century onwards. The period between the Yādava rule and the Marathas did see temple building undertaken by the local chiefs working under the suzerainty of the Bahāmanis or the various Muslim kingdoms of Deccan, but due to lack of royal patronage, the intensity and the monumentality of temples did not compare to the reign of the Śilhārās and the Yādavas.

Maṛaṭha Power and the Rise of Temple Building: However, things began to radically change in the early 18th century as the Marathas power gained ascendency through much of Deccan and the entire subcontinent, and with it, the age of temple construction began. The land of Maharashtra would again be dotted with innumerable Śaiva temples, largely patronized by the Maratha Sardars and this time with a distinct vocabulary of Maratha architecture. While some of the temples built directly by the Maratha royalty would be of the ‘neo’ Bhumija and Śekhari style—for example, Ghṛṣṇeśvara temple built in Bhumija style or the Tryaṃbakeśvara temple built in the Śekhari style—but the temples that were built by local Maratha Sardars would be Maratha style architecture. This style of architecture, especially the śikharas, were of such vastly different styles that it is impossible to classify them into a particular style (though Prof. Mate in his wonderful work, Maratha Architecture, has delineated eleven different styles of Maratha style of Śikharas).

Since these śikharas are made up of brick and mortar, unlike the earlier Yādava era temples, they require repairs, and some of them urgently. In most cases, the villagers usually put some low-quality plaster and garish paints over the statue and carvings in the name of renewal and preservation. The end result is an exquisite 300-year-old Maratha-era temple that looks like a colourful garishly painted modern structure. However, the villagers are not to be blamed, they don’t know any better. The vast majority of these people are poor who, out of sheer devotion, use their life savings to renovate temples. It is the archaeological agencies and heritage organizations that need to step in to rectify such kind of ‘renovation’ of our heritage. As I write this there are way too many old beautiful Maratha-era temples that are getting modern ‘renovation’. For example, if you have seen the old temple at Saṇgameśvar temple at Saswad a years ago, please have a look at the newly renovated and painted śikhara, and take note of its old unadorned beauty with its new avatar.

The Temples of Talegaon Dhamdhere: Similar is the case with many beautiful early 18th century Maratha temples located in the village Talegaon Dhamdhere, about 35 km from the Pune City centre. There are about ten Śiva temples in this ancient town that were constructed in the early 18th century under the patronage of Maratha Sardars. Many of these temples have been recently ‘renovated’ by the towns people, but, fortunately, there are about 4-5 temples, though dilapidated, are still in salvageable condition and their aesthetics have not yet been tampered with.

One such temple is the Siddheśvar temple, built in 1706 CE by the Phadnavis who were Maratha Sardars of the region. It is the largest temple and arguably the most beautiful among the group of Śiva temples at Talegaon Dhamdhere. Its structure along with the sculpture on the śikhara of the temple is still intact. However, it was overgrown with weeds, plants and in some cases, the roots penetrated into the structure of the temple. Moreover, the water was seeping from the roof into the garbhagṛha which will eventually compromise the structural integrity of the temple. Further, the śikhara of the temple needs urgent renovation based on sound conservation principles.

The top of the temple with huge growth of shrubs and plants on Temple Śikhara

Shrubs all across temple walls

Repair work of the Temple: Led by Vijay Sarde, the team at Tattva Heritage Foundation has made multiple visits to the temple, and earlier this year we tentatively began the first phase of the restoration process. We hired multiple labourers, contractors and cleaners to work on removing the very dense outgrowth of plants, shrubs and weeds across the temple structure including on the temple śikharas. This time-consuming work took more than a week to be accomplished, and now the temple premises look clean and most of the tree roots that were causing structural damage to the temple have been removed. In certain cases, these roots had penetrated so deep inside the temple structure that specialist labourers were called to undertake this task. Currently, we are undertaking some structural repairs which will stop the seepage of rainwater into the garbhagṛha.

Repair work of the temple 

Cutting the large branches which have made roots inside the temple walls 

Cleaning up the temple of shrubs 

Cleanng the temple grounds 

Finally after more than one week of work! 

Next Phase: We have arranged for the visit of historians, archaeologists and graduate students at this site to give them a first-hand overview of the temple and our vision for this temple. After this first phase of renovation, we have made plans for structural repair of the temple and the restoration of old Maratha-style sculptures and paintings visible on the śikharas. We are in the process of fundraising and talking to multiple stakeholders including the government and taking into confidence the townspeople to take this process forward. Ideally, this temple should become a template for how to preserve and restore old Maratha-era temples. We will update as and when we make further progress on restoring this temple