Galteshwar Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) is the nearest major airport.

• By train

  Sevaliya Railway Station (SVL) is the nearest station.

Why devotees come here

Galteshwar Temple stands at Sarnal village near Dakor in Kheda district, Gujarat, where the Galta or Galti and Mahi rivers meet. It is a Shiva temple in the bhumija style, and a spring keeps water falling on its Shiva Linga.

Galteshwar is a temple of Shiva at Sarnal village. The temple stands where the Galta or Galti and Mahi rivers meet. Legend says the temple is linked with Galav, a rishi from the Puranas, and with a devoted king named Chandrahas. Water from the Galati spring constantly sprinkles the Shiva Linga.

The temple is built in the bhumija style of central India's Malwa region, with influence from Gujarati Chaulukya architecture. From outside, the shrine is circular, 24 feet across, with many projections and recesses. The eight-sided mandapa, the hall in front of the shrine, has projecting angles similar to Chaulukya temples such as Modhera, Somnath and Sejakpur.

The temple is believed to date from the 12th century. Its shikhara, the tower over the shrine, and its mandapa collapsed in 1908. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) completed the shikhara restoration in September 2021. The Archaeological Survey of India protects it as a Monument of National Importance, numbered N-GJ-144. A government tourism page calls it an architectural treasure from the Solanki era.

Festivals

• MahashivaratriMahashivaratri

  Large numbers of devotees visit the temple on this day.

• Janmashtami and Sharad PurnimaTwo yearly fairs

  The temple holds a fair on each of these two days every year.

Tips for your visit

• Dakor, a Krishna pilgrimage site, is 16 km away.
• On Mahashivaratri, large numbers of devotees come, so expect crowds that day.

Questions people ask