Hatkeshwar Temple

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Hatkeshwar Temple

Photos Hatkeshwar Temple

Hatkeshwar Temple This profusely carved 17th century temple just outside town enshrines Hatkeshwar Mahadev, the family deity of Nagar Brahmins, who were once a prominent community in Vadnagar. The temple's inner sanctum houses a Shiva linga said to have self-emerged (swayambhu). From the roof of the sanctum a massive shikhar soars high into the sky. Facing east, the temple is enclosed by a high wall topped by three circular domes interspersed with flat stretches in the Indo-Saracenic tradition. The exterior of the temple is exquisitely ornamented with figures of the nine planets, musicians, evocative dancing apsaras, regent deities, the chief gods of the Hindu pantheon, scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and varied animal and floral motifs. The premises also have an ancient Kashivishveshvara Shiva temple, a Swaminarayan temple and two Jain temples.