PLACES

DUDHGAON

Objects

Dudhesvar Temple.

Dudhganv, with 6.559 inhabitants, is a village in Miraj taluka lying 28.96 km {18 miles) to the west of Sangli with which it is connected by the Sangli-Asta-Dudhganv road. It is primarily an agricultural village, chief crops grown being jowar, tobacco and ground-nut, Dudhgarnv is noted for its nut crakers and footwear which find ready market not only within the district but also outside. A few handlooms are also working here. There air three primary schools of which two are Marathi and one Urdu, a high school, a branch post office and a medical aid centre. There are temples dedicated to Dudhesvar, Parasnath. Maruti and Biroba. The village has a mosque and a dargah too. It is said that in olden days the present site occupied by the inhabited locality was infested with dense forest growth and open patches of grasslands where the shepherds used to tend their cattle. Dudh-ganv, then known as Kakdevadi, was on the malran that is to he seen a few furlongs away front the present site. It so happened that one of the milch cows of the village never yielded milk. It was subsequently discovered that this particular cow always let bet milk at a particular spot in the forest. Out of curiosity the villagers excavated the spot and to their great surprise found a ling symbol which came to he called as Dudhesvar. A temple was built on the spot and gradually the settlement came to be shifted in the vicinity of the temple. The name of the village was also changed from Kakdevadi to. Dudhganv. The temple is an old one-storeyed structure to which repairs were carried out in 1950. It has a 2.78 m² (30 ft. square) open courtyard where there is a 15.24 metres (50 ft.) high dipmal or lamp pillar. At the farther end of the mandap or just near the entrance to the gabhara is an image of nandi installed in the traditional pesc. The gabhara is 0.929 m² (10 ft. square) and in addition to the svayamhhu ling, contains brass idols of Rama, Laksmana Sita, and Hanuman. In the background is a flint-stone image of a Devi. A Fair attended by nearly five to six thousand people is held in honour of Dudhesvar on Magha Vadya Amavasya

The Parasnath Jain Mandir is a two storeyed edifice built in honour of Parasnath, the 22nd Tirthankara of the Jains. It has a grand mandap with its pillars decorated with exquisite designs, The mandap contains a brass image of Padmavati riding on a swan. In a small chamber are placed the idols of Gomant Svami Santinath and Parsvanath. The gabhara contains small idols of 23 Tirthankaras besides the main image of Parasnath or Parovanath which is 1.52 metre- {five feet) tall and seated in a meditative pose. It is sheltered by a five hooded cobra of brass. Mahavir Jayanti on Caitra Suddha Trayodasi and Padva on Caitra Pratipada are celebrated. The former festival lasts for five days,

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