Vyadeshwar Temple, Guhagar

The Shree Dev Vyadeshwar temple in Guhagar, Ratnagiri district, is dedicated to Shiva and is the kuladevata, or clan deity, of many Chitpavan families of the Konkan. Legend says Parashurama raised the Konkan from the sea and asked sixty sages to settle it, and the sage Vyadi installed the Shiva lingam here, giving the deity the name Vyadeshwar, Lord of Vyadi. Shiva is believed to dwell here unseen. The deity is said to have been lost and found again in the time of King Sakuran, when the present temple was built, which tradition places in the 1st–2nd century.

The temple follows the panchayatan plan: Vyadeshwar sits at the centre, with shrines to Surya, Ganesha, Ambika and Vishnu with Lakshmi at the four corners, and Nandi faces the main shrine. Inside the east entrance stand Garuda and Hanuman, and there are also doors to the west and south. Worn shrines were replaced from 2015, and the old east gate was rebuilt.