Rajan Parrikar Photo Blog

Brahmāṇi Temple

The Brahmāṇi temple is set in a quiet forested area in the remote village of Toldem in Goa‘s Sanguem taluka. These images were taken one early morning in February 2008.

…[The temple] consists of a base of basalt stone, decorated with folk style reliefs. Whether or not it carried a super structure once cannot be said. Today the deities in the western part of the temple platform are protected by a simple thatched roof.

The age of the shrine at Taide is difficult to ascertain like that of most folk style art objects. However, since motifs such as the double headed gaṇḍa-bheruṇda and erotic scenes appear in the reliefs at the base, its age should not be considered to be too recent. On the other hand the three-peaked crown of the human faces of hybrid lions in the base point to a more recent time, to approximately the eighteenth century A.D.

From: The Hindu Past – Sculpture and Architecture by Gritli v. Mitterwallner, included in the anthology Goa – Cultural Patterns edited by Saryu Doshi (MARG Publications, 1983)

 
 
Brahmani temple in Toldem, Goa

Brahmāṇi temple in Toldem, Goa
5D, 35L

 
Old image of the temple (late 1960s) by Dr. Gritli Mitterwallner

The temple in the late 1960s (photo by Dr. Gritli Mitterwallner)

 
Relief on the plinth of the temple

Relief work on the plinth
5D, 35L

 
Erotic depictions on the temple base

Erotic artwork
5D, 24-105L

 
Detail of artwork

Detail of relief
5D, 35L

 
 
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