Wai is a pristine temple town situated at the foothills of the Sahyadris with the Krishna river, revered by the Waikars as Krishnamai, traipsing through its many ghats and aalis.
In ancient times, it was called Vairatnagari. There are several temples from this period such as Dhundi Vinayak, Harihareshwar and Wakeshwar which bear witness to Wai's ancient past. In the 17th century, Afzal Khan, a general from the Bijapur court was sent out by the sultan to defeat Shivaji Maharaj. He camped at Wai, where a man called Shendye Shastri prayed to Krishnamai for Shivaji Maharaj's victory over Afzal Khan. When his boon was granted, he started the Krishnamaicha Utsav, a grand celebration of the river goddess that lasts for 2 months, a celebration which continues till date.
The development of Wai into a center of culture, religion, and learning started when the Rastes, a family of saukars (money lenders) to the Chhatrapatis of Satara, settled in Wai. This family became one of the most prominent noble families of the Deccan on account of the wealth they had accumulated through their business of moneylending, as Maratha generals and their relations with the Peshwas. They were instrumental in the development of Wai where they commissioned outstanding structures and built 7 ghats on the Krishna river, around whom localities and neighborhoods later sprung up. The presence of these buildings in such high concentration in and around Wai, makes this region extremely significant and one of the best and last available examples of Maratha Art & Architecture.
The Temple architecture in Wai has some peculiar features of its own. The temples built by the Rastes are almost completely in stone. Even the Mandap, a space almost exclusively constructed in wood, is constructed in stone here. And these mandaps, such as the ones at the Vishnu, Mahalakshmi, Kashi Vishweshwar and Dholya Ganapati temples are stylistically distinct from each other. These mandaps are, at many places, topped with individual Chhatris instead of domes or spires. Another feature is the extensive presence of Jaalis (screens) of numerous styles used in lieu of windows. These temples are adorned with lime stucco sculptures and wall paintings, the Maratha era replacements of the stone sculptures built during the Yadava period.
Kashi Vishweshwar Temple
Ganapatrao Raste built the Kashi Vishweshwar Temple in 1761. It has a large entrance topped by a Nagarkhana. The temple has 5 sections, the Garbhagriha, the Antaral, the first Mandap, the Nandi Mandap and a second Mandap that is disjointed from the main structure. The Dwarashakha of the Garbhagriha is of the older style, an example of the revivalist architecture practiced by the Marathas. However, this style doesn't seem to have flourished a lot in Wai unlike other cities like Saswad and Mahuli, where it is seen heavily. The Garbhagrihas has jaalis on two sides, featuring a Naga puzzle.
The Shikhar is the most beautiful component of this temple. It is perhaps the only temple in Wai where the lime stucco sculptures have survived so extensively.
Dholya Ganapati Temple
Ganapatrao Raste built the Dholya Ganapati Temple in 1762. Wai, just like Pune has a tradition of giving funny names to its deities. This temple is called Dholya Ganapati on account of the massive size of the idol of Ganapati. The temple is flood resistant by design, a feature that was incorporated on account of its proximity to the river bed.
Ganga Rameshwar Temple
Right behind Dholya Ganapati is the relatively modest Ganga Rameshwar Temple. It was built by Gangadhar Raste in 1765. It had several lime stucco sculptures on its Shikhar, which have all fallen down today.
Vishnu Temple
The Vishnu Temple in Dharmapuri was built by Anandrao Raste in 1778. It is said that this temple was originally planned to be a Ram temple and the setting up of Vishnu and Lakshmi idols was a later development. This myth actually holds true, especially if one considers the way these idols have been placed. The massive Mandap has a fountain which functions as a Yadnya Kund today, the tank for which has been cleverly placed in the shikhar.
Mahalakshmi Temple
The Mahalakshmi temple was also been built by Anandrao Raste in 1778. The idol is a replica of the Mahalakshmi idol from Kolhapur. There is a myth that this idol was originally supposed to be installed at the Parvati temple complex in Pune but somehow made its way to Wai. The Shikhar has 5 levels of Chhatris on a square base. Each level features Chhatris of various sizes and styles. It originally had around 100 lime stucco sculptures in its niches. Unfortunately, only around 25-30 of them survive today. The base of the Shikhar has traces of miniature paintings on it that have faded into obscurity.
Raste Wada
The Raste Wada in Dharmapuri was the primary residence of the Rastes in Wai. In recent times, it was converted into the main office of the Municipal Corporation before being demolished to give way to the concrete structure that stands today.
Moti Mahal
The Raste Wada at Motibag called Moti Mahal was built by Anandrao Raste in 1787 as a summer palace. The wada, inspired by the Asar Mahal in Bijapur lies in the middle of a garden, surrounded by trees, water channels and lotus ponds on all sides. Moti Mahal has hundreds of paintings on its walls, among them rare ones such as those of Baz Bahadur and Roopmati riding or the miniature of Parvati suckling Ganapati.
Uma Maheshwar Temple
The Uma Maheshwar Temple is a Panchayatan temple, with the central shrine dedicated to Shiva and 4 secondary shrines around it of Vishnu, Ganapati, Devi (Shakambari) and Surya. All the 5 shrines have typical Maratha style Shikhars. The niches on these Shikhars are bereft of sculptures, but they were profusely painted in their heydey. Below the Shikhars, one can observe the faint traces of miniatures.
The Mandap of the Shiva temple has wall paintings on all sides including a depiction of Sheshashayi Vishnu, Ganapati flanked by his consorts, a panel of Dashavtar and several episodes from the Ramayan. Leaking water has damaged these over the past few decades but they still remain decipherable.
Who is the ganapatrao raste? Please Give me some information or history about them. And if you know about the 'wakeshwar temple wai' then please notify me. I am waiting...