I find the ancient temples of Kumaun, and much of the Western Himalaya, rather endearing… quaint and understated, they wear their age with grace… satiated by the steady trickle of seekers that come their way, steering clear of the squabbles of propaganda pilgrims and their exasperating emotes…
Kapileshwar Mahadev is a part of that ensemble, a group of 9th century Shiva temples tucked away cosily in a side valley of Kosi at the confluence of Shakuni and Kumyaan rivers… more rivulets than rivers one would say, albeit perhaps with the ignorance of not having seen their monsoon moods…
Built by the Katyuris, prolific Shaivites who dotted the valleys and slopes with numerous temples during their reign of around half a millennium, the temples have the quintessential amalgam of Nagara, Pidha and Pallavastyles… a relatively smaller complex as compared to a Jageshwar, ‘tis nevertheless rich in its carvings and iconography…
What makes it unique is the tilt it has relative to the plinth… there aren’t many clues to the geological or architectural reasons… lore has it put down to a serpentine skirmish twixt the deity of this temple and another one nearby… this one the victor, with the tilt as a battle scar…
It is heartwarming to see how these temples straddle rather effortlessly between a past long gone and a present largely apathetic… many of them are archaeological sites under the ASI and also functioning shrines… revered by the locals but largely unknown to the world behind the mountains that embosom them… the anonymity a boon, for many a shrine have been bedraggled under the moniker of spiritual tourism… the spirituality, I’m pretty sure, has long packed up its wares and disappeared uphill…
So, till the time the Instagrammers arrive for their takeover, one is happy to, quite literally, count their blessings…
Kapileshwar Mahadev temple, Almora, Uttarakhand
