Changdev (चांगदेव) is a village in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. It is situated near the confluence of River Tapi and River Purna. There are two theories behind the etymology of the town. The first theory is that the city is named after Yogi Changdev Maharaj, a 13th-century mystic contemporary of Sant Dnyaneshwar. It is believed that he lived in this village for 1400 years. Being associated with Saint Dnyaneshwar and Muktabai, Changdev is revered among the Warkari community. The other theory states that the town and the temple were named after Changdeo, a chief under the Nikumbha king Govan. An inscription referring to this chief is found in a temple in Patan. This chief probably erected the temple.1
The town is famous for its Changdev Temple. Abul Fazl mentions the town was known as jiggerteerut or “liver of adored places” due to its location on the confluence of two rivers. The Shiva temple in the town had a legend attached. It is said that once, there lived a blind man who always carried an image of Mahadev with him. He used to worship that image daily. One day, when he was in this town, he lost that image. Being greatly distressed, he made an image of sand and started worshipping it. By the grace of God, that sand image turned into stone and remained in this village. Abul Fazl also mentioned a spring near that temple. That spring was considered by Hindus equivalent to the Ganges. The origin of that spring had a legend behind it. It was believed that there once lived a devout person who used to go to the Ganges every morning and return by the evening of the same day. One night, the river Ganges appeared in his dream and instructed him to cease all his labors as she would appear as a spring at his place. In the morning, spring appeared at this place and has remained.2
The first modern reference to the temple is from a list compiled for the ancient remains in the Khandesh district. It mentions Balbodhi inscriptions on each side of the entrance, but these were mutilated so that no decipherment could be made. The other temple of Mahadev on the banks of Tapi was a modern structure made by Ahilya Bai Holker. The upper part of the temple washed away in the floods of 1837, leaving the lower part intact.3 The first detailed description of these temples comes from Henry Cousens in 1931. He mentions that the temple has parts reconstructed with modern masonry, and it was difficult to determine if it was ever finished.4 Not much has been written about the place and the temple since then except a brief description in the Ph. D. thesis of A V Naik in 1947.5 The last critical account is from Gopal Krishna Kanhere who discussed this temple in his compendium on the temples of Maharashtra.6
Changdev Temple – The temple is located inside a large compound and faces east. It consists of a mandapa, antarala, and a garbha-grha. The temple is 97 feet long, the mandapa is 43 feet square, and the garbhagrha is 16 feet square. Most of the mandapa is built with modern masonry as the original did not survive. Inside the mandapa were sixteen pillars arranged in four rows. The garbhagrha is plain inside, with a raised platform in the rear. An image covered with red vermilion is placed over the platform. The image is said to be of Saint Changdev.
The temple is built over a low jagati (platform) that follows the contours of the vimana. The adhishthana has various mouldings. The bottommost moulding is kani with floral designs. It is followed by padma moulding. Above it is a kani, kumuda, kani, padma with saw-toothed design, kani, and another padma. Jangha rises above the last moulding. The jangha is pancha-ratha in plan with five offsets. Images of female figures in different postures adorn the offsets except for the karna (corner offset) and bhadra ( middle offset). Karna has two armed male figures; some may be related to ashta-dikpalas, and some appear to be forms of Vishnu. The bhadra-ratha has a male figure and two female figures on either side. The male figure is very much defaced, and identification is not certain. Cousens suggests that it may be Krishna. He may be right as the figure on the north has his hands in the posture of holding a bansuri (flute). The figures are not enclosed within pilasters or niches. The original shikhara (tower) is lost, and the present shikhara is being constructed later.
1 Kanhere, Gopal Krishna (1988). The Temples of Maharashtra. Maharashtra Information Center. New Delhi. pp. 31-32
2 Gladwin, Francis (1800). Ayeen Akberi. London. p. 53
3 Architecture and Archaeological Remains in Khandesh in 1877. Government Central Press. Bombay (Mumbai). p. 29
4 Cousens, Henry (1931). Medieval Temples of Dekhan. Government of India, Central Publication Branch. Calcutta (Kolkata). pp. 32-34
5 Naik, A V (1947). Structural Architecture of the Deccan published in the New Indian Antiquary vol. 9, no. 7-12, July-December 1947. Karnatak Publishing House. Bombay. pp. 262-263
6 Kanhere, Gopal Krishna (1988). The Temples of Maharashtra. Maharashtra Information Center. New Delhi. pp. 31-33
Acknowledgement: Some of the photos above are in CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain from the collection released by the Tapesh Yadav Foundation for Indian Heritage