Location:- It is to the east of Kolhapur, on the bank of the Krishna river at Khidrapur, Kolhapur district, Maharashtra.
Kopeshwar means angry Shiva.
The temple was built in the 12th century by Shilahara king Gandaraditya who was native to Karnataka. Even though Silaharas were Jain kings, they built various Hindu temples, thus depicting their respect and love for all religions.
Temple’s Origin Tale
According to legends Raja Daksha, who did not like his youngest daughter Sati marrying Lord Shiva, conducted a Yagna to which he did not invite the couple. Sati went to her father’s house on Shiva’s Nandi to confront him. Dakhsa insulted her in front of the guests. Sati, unable to take any more insults, jumped into the fire of Yagna and burnt alive herself. When Lord Shiva came to know about it he was enraged. He punished Daksha by chopping off his head. Lord Vishnu soothed Shiva, after which he replaced Daksha’s head with a goat’s head. Lord Vishnu brought the enraged Shiva to this location to calm him down. As a result, the temple was given the unique name Kopeshwar (wrathful god). This explains why Lord Vishnu is in the temple in the form of a ling along with Shivling and that Nandi is not seen in this temple as Sati rode on the Nandi while visiting her parents’ home.
Significant Structure of the Temple
The temple is divided into four sections:- Swarga Mandap, Sabha Mandap, Antaral kaksha, and Garbha Griha are all temples. Elephant statues at the temple’s base support the temple’s weight. The Kopeshwara Temple is an ancient and artistic temple located on the bank of the Krishna River built by Shilahara in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Swarga Mandap
There is a circular opening to the sky at the entrance of the Swarga Mandap. Looking at the sky one gets mesmerized and gets a feeling of looking at heaven(swarga), hence the name Swarga Mandap.
At the Swarga Mandap’s circumference, we can see finely carved statues of Lord Ganesh, Lord Karthikeya, Lord Kubera, Lord Yamraj, Lord Indra, and others, as well as their carrier animals like peacock, mouse, elephant, etc. Standing in the center of the Swarga Mandap, we can see Lord Brahma idols on the left-hand side wall of the entry to the Sabha Mandap. The Lord Shiva Kopeshwar Shivling in the Garbh Gruha is in the center, and the wonderfully sculpted idol of Lord Vishnu is on the right-hand sidewall. So we may see the Tridev ‘Brahma Vishnu Mahesh’ at a glance.
A stone pedestal east of the temple’s southern door features a carved inscription in Sanskrit written in Devnagari script. It is stated that the temple was renovated in 1136 by Raj Singhadev of the Yadav dynasty.
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