Sri. Kanakaditya (Name of Sun God), Ratnagiri

Good morning.

Kasheli, a very small village in Rajapur Taluka of Ratnagiri district, is the prime attraction for devotees due to a famous and ancient temple of Sri. Kanakaditya (Name of Sun God). Kasheli is at a distance of approximately 30 kms from both Ratnagiri and Rajapur. The temple is having a bright historical background. The deity of God Aditya (one of the names of God Sun) was brought from Prabhas Pattan Sun temple before 800 years.


The black stone idol of Sun God is enshrined in mud and laterite stone architecture.
 Prabhas Pattan is Lord Krishna’s place. There are so many legends about the temple. Once one boatman was traveling from Veraval port towards South direction. The deity of Aditya was there in the same boat. When the boat was passing through the Kasheli region, the boat had stopped automatically. The boatman tried a lot to sail the boat into the sea. But he failed to do so. Then he has decided to place the deity of God Aditya at the Kaseli port. He had placed the deity into a black cave (approximately 400 sq. feet). Immediately after this, the boat had got the motion for sailing. A great devotee of God Sun, Kanaka, was living at Kasheli. She got the enlightment from God Sun about the deity. Then she had formally constructed a small temple of Aditya with the help of villagers, hence the temple is known as Kanakaditya. The cave is called as “Devachi Kholi” ( God’s room).

Sri. Kanakaditya is very famous spiritual place from Ratnagiri district.
The temple trustees are celebrating five days festival of Ratha-saptami every year. Many spiritual programs like Kirtan, Pravachan, Aarati, Palakhi etc are organized during the festival period.

King Shilahar of Panhalgad (a hill fort) had donated kasheli village to Shri. Govind Bhat Bagawat in the service of Brahmins. Govind Bhat was the worshiper of Kanakaditya deity. Progeny of Govind Bhat are the current care takers of the temple.

Sundar Narayan Temple, Panchavati at Nashi in Maharashtra.

Good morning.(1st July 2017)

Sundar Narayan Temple is located in Panchavati at Nashi in Maharastra state.

In 1756, the Sundar Narayan temple was built by the  Gangadhar Yashwant Chandrachud.

 The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Vishnu with Goddess Shri Lakshmi and Goddess Shri Saraswathi who are placed in the sanctum of the temple.

The main deity is Lord Vishnu – also called Narayana. To the left and right are Shri Lakshmi and Shri Saraswathi respectively. Fine designs are carved on the stones of the temple. On the road leading towards Godavari river, there is Badarika Sangam pond.  It is said that the king of Devgiri bathed and performed rites in this pond. We also find a mention of this pond in the holy book Dyaneshwari.

One remarkable thing about this temple is that,  it is built at such an angle,  that on 21st March, rays of the rising Sun first fall exactly upon the idols.

There are small carvings of Hanuman, Narayana and Indira on the walls. The east-facing temple has three porches with balcony seating, lobed arches and globular domes. The temple presents imposing architecture especially the vaulted niche, which strikes a chord with the Mughal sculpture.

Its a Lord Vishnu's temple and the reason for the name  "Sunder" is that,  he once became ugly by the curse given by Jalandar's (wicked demon) wife Vrinda .  Due to the curse,  Lord Vishnu turned black and ugly. He then took bath in Godavari and thus was relieved from the curse.  Hence Lord Vishnu is called as Shri Sundar Narayan here.