Sarneshwar Mahadev Temple

History

Lala Sita Ram records that “Sri Sarneswarji” was written at the top of every document issued by Sirohi State, and that people greeted one another with “Jai Sarneswarji”. The name is said to come from “Sirneswar”, Lord of the Siranwa hill. The temple stands in the centre of a fortified enclosure that tradition says was built by a Muslim king of Malwa who was cured of a leprous disease by bathing in a nearby kund. In 1920 the temple was thought to be about five hundred years old, and he records that Apurvadevi, chief queen of Rao Lakha, installed an image of Hanuman in it in 1469.

Colonel James Tod, quoted in the Sirohi District Gazetteer (1960), described the shrine as built around a kund whose waters were believed to cure contagious diseases. He noted its vaulted roof on columns, an egg-shaped dome typical of the region, a trident about twelve feet high said to be made of seven metals, and two stone elephants at the entrance, and wrote that the original image and an old inscription had been taken to Mewar.

Cenotaphs of the Sirohi rulers and their queens stand in an enclosure before the temple by the Mandakini tank, with those of the sirdars outside it. The 1920 history records that the Maharao visited the temple every Dussehra afternoon and that pilgrims gathered in large numbers on Shivaratri; the 1960 gazetteer adds a fair on the twelfth day of the bright half of Bhadon, a chief gathering of the Rebari community.

Stories

Shrine of the Sirohi Rulers

Lala Sita Ram's History of Sirohi Raj, written in 1920, records that the words Sri Sarneswarji were written at the top of every document issued by Sirohi State, and people greeted one another with Jai Sarneswarji. The Deora Chauhan rulers treated it as their tutelary shrine, on the slope of the Siranwa hill.

The Kund That Healed

Tradition says the fortified enclosure around the temple was built by a Muslim king of Malwa who was cured of a leprous disease by bathing in a nearby kund. Colonel James Tod, quoted in the 1960 Sirohi District Gazetteer, wrote that its waters were believed to cure contagious diseases.

Cenotaphs and a Bhadon Fair

Cenotaphs of the Sirohi rulers and queens stand in an enclosure before the temple beside the Mandakini tank. The 1920 history records that the Maharao visited every Dussehra afternoon and that pilgrims gathered on Shivaratri; the 1960 gazetteer adds a fair on the twelfth day of the bright half of Bhadon, a chief gathering of the Rebari community.

Good to know

Tutelary shrine of the Deora Chauhan rulers of Sirohi

Fortified enclosure around a healing kund

Royal cenotaphs beside the Mandakini tank

Getting there

Nearest airport: Udaipur — road via Sirohi. Sirohi Road / Abu Road railheads — local road to Sarneshwar village temple.