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PLACES |
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ALTE
Alte Kasaba (Hatkanangale T. 17° 10' N;
74° 30' E p. 5,214), from alta, a red colour formerly made in the
town, was the former headquarters of the Alte sub-division. It lies
in the Varna valley, about twelve miles north-east of Kolhapur and
six miles south of the Varna. It is two miles from Hatkanangale
railway station on the Kolhapur-Miraj-Sangli metre gauge railway.
The town is surrounded on three sides by woody heights and has a
good supply of well water. The people live in brick and tile-built
houses. Alte is said to be more than 800 years old. Weekly markets
are held every Tuesday and Wednesday. During the disorders at the
close of the eighteenth century, Alte was twice burnt to the ground.
The objects of interest are a Musalman prayer-place called Ramzan
Darga, and about a mile to the west of the town the temples of
Sidoba, a Lingayat saint, of Dhuloba, probably another name for
Khandoba of Alam Prabhu, a Lingayat shrine, and of Ramling or Siva.
The Ramzan Darga is a square building, including the plinth,
forty-four feet long by forty feet broad and including the dome
thirty-three feet high. The prayer place is visited by many
Musalmans and by a few Hindus. Every year on the 15th of
Saval a fair or urus is held attended by about 2,000
people. The Darga enjoys free land valued at a yearly assessment of
Rs. 613. Of Hindu temples the temple of Sidoba is a small
tile-roofed stone and mortar building five feet long and five feet
broad. It is visited chiefly by Kunbis. The temple of Dhuloba which
is built in Indo-Saracenic style, is twenty-five feet square and has
a small central dome. It is said to have been built by a weaver of
Kagal. Every year in Caitra or March-April a fair is held
attended by about 5,000 people chiefly Marathas. The temple of Alam
Prabhu which is also built in Indo-saracenic style, is twenty-seven
feet long, seventeen feet broad and ten feet high. It is chiefly
visited by Lingayats and Jains. According to a local legend Prabhu
was a Lingayat saint who came to Alte. He was followed by his
disciple Adiling as far as Alte. As he could find no further trace
of his Guru, he thought that Prabhu had buried himself alive at
Alte. To show respect for his teacher, Adiling built the shrine and
set up a lamp which is still kept burning and worshipped. There is a
local story that the temple was visited by the Emperor Alamgir or
Aurangzeb (1658-1707) and was presented by him with a maca or
footstool. The original footstool has disappeared and a new one has
been installed in front of the lamp. Some small domes in front of
the temple are said to have been raised in honour of devotees of
Siva who performed the live-burial or jivant-samadhi. The
last live-burial is said to have taken place about 150 years ago.
The cave temple of Ramling is on the side of a rocky hill. The chief
cave was originally nearly twelve feet square, but three quarters of
it have been turned into a cistern five feet deep. At the inner end
of the temple are a rock-carved ling and a Ganapati from which water
always trickles. Before they can reach the ling, worshippers have
generally to pass through three or four feet of water. Outside the
cave-mouth a massive Hemadpanti structure thirteen feet square rests
on stone pillars. By the side of the main cave is a row of seven
small cells dedicated to the seven Puranic sages or Sapta
risis. Near the temple are several unfailing springs, of
which the Nilaganga or Blue Ganges and the Papanasi (sin-destroyer)
are tirths or sacred pools. The position of the ling
and the Ganapati seems to show that the caves are Buddhist or Jain
and have been adopted for Brahmanic worship.
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