Forgotten Irony

On the busy Pune-Solapur highway,two kilometres before the exit to the town of Yevat,is the little juice kiosk owned by Savita tai . She is unaware of the location of the Daulatmangal fort. However,a mention of the Bhuleshwar temple brings out a smile,and precise directions. “Turn right from the canal ahead and go on straight for eight kilometres,and you will see the temple there,” she says,pointing to a far-off hill. It is not unusual for the localites near the village of Yavat to not know that the Bhuleshwar temple is housed within the fort. Primarily because,there are no reminders that there is a fort there. And,also because the government,which has worked hard to keep the temple in such beautiful shape,but has conveniently forgotten to maintain the fort itself.

The fort,with its origins in the 12th century,now consists of a broken,thin wall that formed a part of its outer defence along with a few broken ramparts. These constitute the secondary defence on the upper plateau of the fort. Containing some excellent specimens of architecture from the Nizamshahi and the Adilshahi period,what is striking about the fort is the wonderfully well-preserved temple that it houses. The temple priest Mohandas Gurav’s family has been taking care of the temple since the time of the Peshwas. “Most people assume that the broken ramparts were parts of the temple. The temple itself has some good architectural reflections of the period prior to the rule of the Marathas. It is ironic that the fort itself has been relegated into the background owing to the popularity of the temple.”

With well-etched carvings and perfectly cut steps,the Bhuleshwar temple,dedicated to Lord Shiva,has two levels that can be accessed by a narrow winding staircase. The exterior of the temple has a narrow ledge that has a perilous drop.

The carvings in the interior of the fort temple depict scenes from the Ramayana on one side of its wall and the Mahabharata on the other. “Some of the scenes here include the abduction of Sita,the Darbar of Lord Indra,the Swayamvar of Draupadi,Bhishma lying on the bed of arrows and the Samudra- manthan . The figures with broken heads and bodies are testimony to the destruction that the temple had endured and yet stood tall against,” says Gurav.

He points out that a cleaner employed by the Archaeological Survey of India comes daily to clean the temple and that the temple is self-sufficient when it comes to funds. “I wish they would do something for the fort. If nothing else,at least put up boards telling the people that the temple is housed within a fort,” he says,sadly.