Pataleshwar Caves

The Pataleshwar Caves are an 8th-century rock-cut Shiva temple of the Rashtrakuta period in Shivajinagar, Pune, on a rocky rise just west of where the Mula and Mutha rivers meet. Now surrounded by the city, it sits in a garden and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. Its name refers to the 'underworld' symbolism of sanctums cut deep below ground level.

A short path leads into an open court cut from the basalt, nearly 95 by 90 feet, where a circular Nandi pavilion has been carved in place from the living rock, ringed by a shallow channel; four of its original sixteen pillars and part of its roof are lost. Steps flanked by two carved reclining tigers lead into a pillared hall and three east-facing sanctums with a passage around them. The central one holds the original linga; Parvati and Ganesha now occupy the side cells, probably meant for Brahma and Vishnu. Weathering and vandalism have left only traces of the reliefs.