Ambreshwar Shiva Temple, Ambarnath

The Shiv Mandir at Ambarnath, also called the Ambreshwar Shiva Temple and locally Puratana Shivalaya, is an 11th-century stone temple beside the Waldhuni river, 2 kilometres from Ambarnath railway station near Mumbai. It was built in 1060 CE, probably by the Shilahara king Chhittaraja, and may have been rebuilt by his son Mummuni.

Its sanctum is unusual: it sits below ground, reached by about 20 steps down from the hall, and is open to the sky, because the tower above stops a little higher than the hall and was apparently never finished. The tower is in the bhumija form, and complete it would have resembled the Udayesvara Temple at Udaipur in Madhya Pradesh, which was started in 1059, and Sinnar's Gondeshwar Temple. Some suggest the open top is intended, since ambar means sky. The hall has three porches, and though much of the outer carving is damaged, some female and divine figures survive.