TAMBDI SURLA TEMPLE

TAMBDI SURLA TEMPLE

Mahadev Temple, Tambdi Surla is a 12th-century Shaivite temple of the LordMahadeva and an active place of Hindu worship. It is notable as the oldest temple inGoa, India.
The temple was built by Hemadri, the minister of the Yadava King Ramachandra. The Jain style construction has led to debates about the origins of the temple, since the Kadamba Dynasty ruled Goa between the tenth and fourteenth centuries. The temple is built in the Hemadpanthi style from basalt, carried across the mountains from the Deccan plateau and carved craftsmen. It is considered to be the only specimen of Kadamba-Yadava architecture in basalt stone preserved and available in Goa. The temple survived invasions and the Goa Inquisition due to its remote location in a clearing deep in the forest at the foot of the Western Ghats which surround the site.